


Diamond Stars

by JimmyPenguin421



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Crack, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Video & Computer Games
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JimmyPenguin421/pseuds/JimmyPenguin421
Summary: What if Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex ended up in the world of Minecraft?
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 20
Kudos: 54





	1. Friendly Competition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Minecraft or Star Wars.

Anakin and Ahsoka were sitting in their living room, playing a friendly game of Minecraft.

“Snips! No!” Anakin cried. “MY diamonds!”

“Sorry, Master!” she giggled gleefully, running away from Anakin’s house with a dozen stolen diamonds in her hand.

Anakin smirked. He pulled out a crossbow and ran up to the second floor of his house. Loading an arrow, he caught sight of Ahsoka. He aimed and hit the “fire” button…

 _You died!_ Ahsoka’s screen read.

“Argh!” she groaned. “Fine, you can have your diamonds back.”

“Thank you, my young padawan,” said Anakin, already running toward the place where Ahsoka had dropped his diamonds.

“How did you even make that shot, Skyguy? What is that, fifty blocks?” Ahsoka had respawned in her own house, near Anakin’s, and was running over to Anakin to see how far he had shot at her from.

“Well, Ahsoka, I am what they call a ‘pro.’”

“Oh, really,” she said, pulling out a sword.

“WHOA! Okay, Snips, okay! I just got kind of lucky, I guess! Truce?”

“Okay, truce,” she agreed, putting away her sword.

Just then, the doorbell sounded. Anakin and Ahsoka both stood and went to the door. Ahsoka hit the button, and the door slid open.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex stood on the other side. “What are you two up to?” Obi-Wan asked, looked them both up and down. “We heard you yelling from outside.”

“Nothing much, Master. Just a bit of friendly… uh, competition,” Anakin stuttered.

“Why am I not surprised?” said Obi-Wan, shaking his head.

Just then, the three Jedi felt a disturbance in the Force behind them. Anakin and Ahsoka whirled around and saw both of their computer screens flicker and go black.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Obi-Wan muttered, reaching for his lightsaber. Technology failure was no surprise (especially if it was Anakin’s technology), but it was not usually something the Force would acknowledge.

“General, Commander, what did you do this time?” Rex asked, backing away and putting his hands onto the handles of his pistols.

The computers continued to flicker, but they began making strange noises. The noises were somewhere between wind and a voice, but what the voice said, none of the four could tell.

“If you’ll excuse me, General Skywalker, Commander Tano,” Rex said calmly. He drew his pistols and fired three rounds of DC-17 ammunition into each computer.

The noises went on. If anything, they got louder.

Then a bright purple flash blinded Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex and they all lost consciousness.


	2. Blocks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Star Wars or Minecraft.

Rex sat up and rolled his head around, cracking his neck. He blinked a few times, slapped himself across the face to wake himself up, and looked around.

Everything around him was made of… _blocks?_

He was definitely _not_ in the Skywalker-Tano quarters anymore.

He reached for his blasters, just to feel their comforting weight against his hands. His fingers brushed against empty holsters.

“Huh?” he muttered. He checked all the pockets on his belt, only to find that they, too, were empty. And his helmet was nowhere to be found.

“What the—” Rex sputtered, standing up.

“What happened?” came Ahsoka’s voice. Rex turned to see her sitting in the grass, tilting her head and rubbing her lek. “Ow,” she muttered. Then her eyes widened. “The Force! I can’t feel it anymore!” As Rex watched, she started hyperventilating and curled into a ball.

Rex ran over. “Commander. Commander!” he yelled, taking her by the shoulders and shaking gently. “Commander, you need to breathe.”

She lifted her head, gasping for breath, her shoulders heaving.

“Come on. Just follow me. In…” Keeping eye contact with her, Rex breathed in slowly. He held the breath for a moment before releasing it.

Slowly, Ahsoka’s breathing evened out and she calmed down. “Thanks, Rex,” she said quietly after a minute. “It’s just… I’ve never not felt the Force.”

“Can’t say I know what that’s like, but you did fine. Don’t worry about it. Now—” his voice broke off when he realized that Ahsoka was staring at something right above his head. “Something wrong, Commander?”

“Look, your name is there,” she said, pointing.

“Where?”

“Above your head.”

Rex looked up, but he couldn’t see anything. He looked back down at Ahsoka. “You have one too, Commander,” he said. _Ahsoka Tano_ was floating above her head in white letters. “Where are we?”

“Well, judging by the fact that everything is made of blocks and we have our names over our heads—"

Just then, a yell came from nearby.

Rex recognized the voice as General Skywalker. _Not again,_ he groaned mentally. He ran in the direction of the noise, Ahsoka close behind.

They found Anakin on his knees in some tall grass. He looked up at them, and for the first time in his accelerated life, Rex saw panic in his General’s eyes.

“THE FORCE IS GONE!” he screamed.

“I got him, Rex,” Ahsoka whispered. She ran over and knelt beside Anakin. “Master?” she said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“…Snips?” Anakin said slowly.

“Yeah, Master, it’s me. It’s Ahsoka.”

“The Force is gone.”

“Yeah, Skyguy, I noticed. Remember, I’m a Jedi too.”

“Right,” Anakin said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Where are we?”

“Look around, Master,” Ahsoka said.

He did.

“HOLY FORCE, AHSOKA! EVERYTHING IS BLOCKY! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS MEANS?”

“Yeah, Master. I woke up first. Also, your name is above your head.” She pointed to the words _Anakin Skywalker_ floating in the air just over Anakin’s head.

Rex was getting more and more confused. “General, Commander?” he said. “Care to fill me in?”

Anakin took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, and let it out. “Rex, you remember what Ahsoka and I were doing when you came into our quarters?”

“Something on the computers,” he answered uncertainly, not seeing how this was related.

“Right, well, you see, Rex, what we were doing was—”

Ahsoka cut him off. “We were playing a video game, which it seems like we have now been transported into.”

“Yeah,” Anakin said. They both looked at Rex.

He shook his head. “Why are we in the game?”

“Well,” Ahsoka began, “if I had to guess, it probably has something to do with you shooting our computers.”

“Commander, that was _after_ they started acting strange. And speaking of shooting, my blasters are gone.”

“That’s not good,” she said, shaking her head. “You probably would have needed those. But,” she said, reaching to her belt, “at least we still have our l—" She broke off and looked down at her belt. “Uh, Master?”

“What?”

“My lightsabers are gone.”

“Snips, how many times do I have to tell you—oh, mine’s not here either. Never mind.”

“Do you think someone came along and took our weapons?”

“Unless there’s a village around here, no. Even then, I don’t think villagers can take stuff without paying us. OOH! Maybe they left emeralds! Check your pockets!” Anakin began frantically digging through his belt pockets, and Ahsoka did the same.

“Sir, my pockets are empty,” Rex said.

“Same,” said Ahsoka.

“Ah, me too,” Anakin sighed. He looked around. “Wait, where’s Obi-Wan?”

“Hello there,” came the voice of the aforementioned Jedi Master. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex turned to see Obi-Wan walking towards them. Just like the rest of them, his name was floating above his head.

“Master,” said Anakin, “before you start lecturing us, let me just say that it’s not our fault our lightsabers are gone, and it’s not my fault we’re in Minecraft, and it’s definitely not my fault we have NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE OR HOW TO GET HOME! Oh, and THE FORCE IS GONE!”

Obi-Wan held up his hand. “First, I know it’s not your fault your lightsabers are gone. Mine is missing too. Second, I know the Force is gone. I’m a Jedi too, Anakin.”

Rex stifled a chuckle. Anakin rolled his eyes.

“As for where we are,” Obi-Wan went on, “this might help.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his belt.

Anakin and Ahsoka looked at each other. “A starter map!” they said together.

Rex and Obi-Wan exchanged glances.

“Sir, do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Rex whispered.

“No, Rex, but they seem to know something we don’t,” Obi-Wan whispered back.

“Of course Obi-Wan gets the map,” Anakin groaned. He held out his hand. “Can I see that, Master?”

Obi-Wan handed it to him. “I don’t know what the use of it is,” he said. “It’s just blank.”

“Leave that to me,” Anakin smirked. He held the map in his hand and made a motion with it as if he were trying to hit the ground.

“Master… what are you doing?” Ahsoka asked.

“You know how when you click to make a map, it goes like this?” Anakin explained, still swinging the map.

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Well, what do you think, you just say ‘create map’ and it magically appears?”

“That’s a better idea than what you were doing!”

“Oh, look! Stuff is showing up! See, it just needed some time.”

“It’s showing up because you said ‘create map,’ Master!”

Obi-Wan strode up. “Let me see that,” he said, taking the map from Anakin. Anakin didn’t notice, as he was too busy arguing with Ahsoka.

Rex walked over to Obi-Wan and peered over his shoulder. He could only really see a mess of green, blue, and brown. “Anything useful here, sir?”

“Well, it’s just a map. The only thing I don’t understand are these.” Obi-Wan pointed to four arrows on the map—one white, one red, one green, and one blue.

“Maybe we can ask the Commander and General Skywalker.”

Anakin and Ahsoka materialized behind Obi-Wan, both peeking at the map over his shoulders. “Need some help, Master?” Anakin asked.

“What are these arrows?” Obi-Wan asked, tapping them.

“Those arrows are us,” Anakin said.

“But which is which?”

“Let’s see. Which one is spinning?” Ahsoka asked, turning in circles.

Rex looked at the map. The white, red, and blue arrows were staying still, but the green one was spinning crazily.

“Looks like you’re green, Snips,” Anakin said. “I wonder…” he turned and walked off a few steps. “Which one is moving?” he called.

“Anakin, you’re red,” Obi-Wan called back.

He frowned. “I wanted blue.”

Rex, getting the idea, turned on his heel and walked away.

“Rex, you’re blue,” Obi-Wan said. “Which means I’m white. Glad we got that sorted out. Now, Anakin, Ahsoka, where are we?”

“We are in Minecraft,” Anakin said proudly, as if that explained everything.

“It’s a game. Anakin and I were playing it when you came to our quarters. And we’re in it now,” Ahsoka chimed in helpfully. “And don’t ask why.”

“Commander,” Rex asked, “what is the goal of the game? How do we get home?”

“Oh, that’s probably after we defeat the dragon,” she said.

“Sirs,” Rex said, looking up at the sky. “The sun is going down.”

Obi-Wan groaned. “This just gets better and better,” he muttered. “What are we going to do now?”

“Well, we don’t have any weapons. Or the Force. That’s not good,” Anakin said. “Anywhere on the map where we could stay for the night? A cave, perhaps?”

“That’ll cause more problems than it solves, Master,” Ahsoka said.

Obi-Wan looked at the map. “There appears to be a group of buildings…” he turned slowly, “this way.”

“A village!” Anakin said. “That’s even better. Let’s go!”

With Obi-Wan in the lead, they set off toward the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	3. The Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Star Wars or Minecraft. I mean, unless you count my copy of the game XD

The sun had just begun to touch the horizon when the four arrived at the village, thanks to the guidance of their handy locator map. The village consisted of many simple houses built from wood and cobblestone, as well as a stone tower.

As the four stood there looking around, a villager came up to them.

“I’ll handle this,” Anakin whispered to Obi-Wan. He crossed his arms and shuffled forward.

“Hmm,” Anakin said.

The villager stared.

“Hmm?” Anakin asked.

Nothing.

“HmM!”

The villager looked Anakin up and down. “Greetings, stranger,” he said. “Emphasis on _strange.”_

Anakin quickly uncrossed his arms. Ahsoka snickered.

Obi-Wan stepped forward. “Hello there,” he said. “My apologies for my friend’s behavior. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is Captain Rex,” Rex nodded to the villager, “and those two are Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano.” Ahsoka gave an awkward smile and a wave. Anakin just stared.

“Joseph M. Blockhurst, librarian, at your service,” the villager said with a slight bow. Standing up straight, he pushed his glasses back up and looked at Ahsoka. “Forgive me, but am I correct in assuming that you are not human?”

“Yeah. Have you never seen a non-human before?”

Joseph looked down at his hands, fiddling with each other. “Well… yes. It’s just that all the ones we’ve seen end up trying to kill us.”

“With the way you’re talking, I just might continue the trend…” Ahsoka said, giving him a cold glare.

“Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan said, giving her a warning look. He turned back to Joseph. “We mean you no harm.”

“Might I ask, then, what brings you to our village?”

“We… aren’t from around here,” Obi-Wan said carefully. “In fact, we just found ourselves here for some reason. We don’t know why or how we got here, but we saw that night was approaching. Is there room for us to stay the night in the village?”

“Hmm…” Joseph said, stroking his chin.

Anakin elbowed Ahsoka. “See, I knew it!” he hissed.

“Shut up, Master,” she whispered back.

“Is that any way to talk to your Master?” Anakin shot back, pretending to be stern, but with a silly grin on his face to show Ahsoka he wasn’t serious.

“I’m still staring him down. The effect is better if I concentrate.”

Before Anakin could fire a comeback, Joseph finished contemplating. “We could set up some beds in the church,” he said. “It’s Wednesday, my friends, so the church won’t be needed for a few days.”

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said.

“It’s no trouble. This way, please,” said Joseph. He led them down a dirt path towards the center of the village, Ahsoka still glaring at his back.

As Joseph passed another villager, he said, “Prepare four beds for our guests, please. Bring them to the church.” The villager nodded and disappeared into his house.

“That’s David,” Joseph said. “He’s a shepherd. Kind of quiet, but a good fellow once you get to know him.”

Villagers looked up from their work as Joseph and his companions made their way towards the church. Ahsoka in particular drew a lot of stares. Her glare slowly disappeared, and she moved closer to Anakin.

When they arrived at the church, Joseph opened the door and gestured Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex inside. The building was made of stone, with windows made from yellow and white glass. Something that looked like it belonged in a laboratory stood off to one side of the room.

Anakin pointed to it and elbowed Ahsoka. “Look! A brewing stand!”

“Yes, I know, Master. There’s a brewing stand in every village church.”

Anakin rolled his eyes.

“Well, my friends,” Joseph said, “there is one floor above this one, and then the roof. The room does not have enough space for all four of you. Perhaps we could set up some wool on the roof?”

“That’s… quite all right, thank you,” Obi-Wan said. He turned to Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex. “I’ll sleep on the roof. Any volunteers to come with me?”

“I will, sir,” said Rex.

“Thanks, Rex,” Ahsoka whispered.

“We owe you one,” Anakin said.

Just then, the door opened and the shepherd—David—came in. “I have the beds, Joseph,” he said.

“Excellent! If you would, please, put two on the upper floor and two on the roof.”

“Um… I don’t see any beds,” Ahsoka chimed in.

David turned to Ahsoka, not even reacting to the fact that she wasn’t human. He reached into a pocket and pulled something out, then held his hand out towards Ahsoka.

Anakin looked over his Padawan’s shoulder (actually, he could look over her head without much trouble). In David’s hand was a small bed, not even big enough for a mouse.

“I see,” Anakin said, smirking. “And just how are any of us supposed to fit in that?”

“Come and see,” David said. He climbed up the ladder to the next floor. Ahsoka and Anakin followed.

When all three had reached the upper floor, David threw the bed down.

It hit the ground as a full-size bed.

Ahsoka spun around to face Anakin, her eyes wide. “I’m not the only one who saw that, right?” she asked.

“Huh,” Anakin said. “How does that work?”

David shrugged. “That’s just how it is. Like how the sun rises and sets every day.” He put down another bed.

“Actually, the sun—” Ahsoka began, but Anakin elbowed her.

David climbed up to the roof. There was a slight _clunk_ as two more beds hit the ground. David came back down the ladder, past Anakin and Ahsoka to the ground floor. They followed.

“Everything’s ready,” David said with a smile, gesturing towards the upper levels.

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said.

David nodded and went outside, presumably back to his own house.

“I will see you all tomorrow,” Joseph said. “Don’t let the spiders bite.”

“Spiders?” asked Ahsoka.

“Yes, spiders. You really must not be from around here.”

“I _know_ what a spider is,” she groaned. “I just don’t like them.”

“Well, they shouldn’t be able to get inside. I suppose they could climb up to the roof, but they never do. And the venomous ones stay deep underground, so no need to be afraid. Good evening.” Joseph bowed and left the church.

“Thanks,” Ahsoka muttered.

“Don’t… don’t worry, Snips,” Anakin said, yawning. “They’ll go for Obi-Wan and Rex first, and by that time we’ll be awake and running.”

Obi-Wan shook his head and started up the ladder. The other three followed. Anakin and Ahsoka took the upper floor while Obi-Wan and Rex went to the roof.

Anakin yelled up to Obi-Wan, “How is it up there, old man?”

“The stars are amazing,” he called back. “Care to come and see?”

“No thanks,” Anakin laughed. He sat down on one bed and took off his boots. “’Night, Snips,” he said over his shoulder.

No reply.

“Snips?” Anakin turned and looked at the other bed.

Ahsoka was already fast asleep. He could only just see her montrals poking out from under the blankets.

Anakin chuckled to himself and lay down, snuggling into the blankets. They were very soft and just warm enough to be cozy without being too hot.

His last thought before drifting off to sleep was that he could understand why Ahsoka fell asleep so fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! If so, tell me! If not, definitely tell me!


	4. Hmm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Minecraft. Or Star Wars.

Ahsoka felt something poke her shoulder. She rolled over.

“Come on, Snips, wake up,” came Anakin’s voice.

“Master, I’m _tired,”_ she moaned. “Five more minutes? Please?”

“No.”

“But the blankets are _so nice…”_ She curled up into a ball and pulled the blankets tighter around herself, looking up at Anakin with wide, pleading eyes. “And it’s so early! The sun is barely even up.”

He sighed. “Ahsoka. Tano.”

She poked her head out from the blankets a bit at the use of her full name.

“Don’t make me do this,” Anakin said, shaking his head.

“I won’t get up! Not at this time!”

 _“Then you will die!”_ he said playfully, lunging forward and tickling her.

“Hahaha—no, stop—please—ha!” she begged between giggles.

“I will show you mercy if you get up,” he said coolly, not letting up.

“My—ha—my Master could—never be as evil as—haha—you,” she gasped.

He deepened his voice, pretending to be a news reporter or something. “Anakin Skywalker was the best master ever. I was his biggest fan.”

“He—he tortured his—haha—Padawan!”

“Only because she wouldn’t get up.”

“Fine!” she yelled, her voice cracking. “Just—hahaha—stop!”

After a few more tickles, he stopped.

Ahsoka sat up and gathered the blanket around herself. She used it to wipe tears of laughter from her eyes before standing up, wearing it as a cape.

Anakin groaned. “Snips, you can’t just take their blanket.”

“But it’s so soft and fuzzy and warm and cozy…” she whined.

“Are you two quite finished?” Obi-Wan’s voice came from below them.

“Be right there!” Anakin called down. He turned to Ahsoka. “Leave the blanket.”

She frowned and dropped it on the bed. But after Anakin disappeared down the ladder, she picked up the blanket and put it back on again. Then she followed Anakin downstairs.

As she stepped down from the ladder to the floor, Anakin sighed, “Ahsoka, I thought I told you to leave it. Why can’t you just obey for once?”

Obi-Wan (and maybe Rex, but he tried to hide it out of respect for his general) snickered. Ahsoka pulled the blanket around her shoulders and snuggled her head down into it, almost as if she were a turtle.

“What?!” Anakin demanded.

Just then, the door swung open and Joseph entered.

“Top of the morning to you,” Joseph said, bowing. As seemed to be his habit, he pushed his glasses up. “I have brought breakfast.”

“Food doesn’t sound bad,” Obi-Wan said. “What do you have?”

“Bread, apples, milk?” he replied, taking each item out of his pocket as he named it and setting it on a table. Like the beds had been, they were all tiny. The apple (for there was only one—why had Joseph said _apples,_ Ahsoka wondered?) was only a couple inches across, and the bread was the size of a dinner roll, if that big. The milk was in four separate buckets that were really just little metal cups, only a couple inches tall. Interestingly, although the buckets were full to the brim, nothing spilled.

“Thank you, Joseph,” Obi-Wan said. Joseph nodded, smiling.

“Um… excuse me?” Ahsoka asked timidly. “Do you have any… meat?”

“It’s the best thing for her to eat,” Anakin said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “One of her non-human quirks. Just like how she—" He was cut off by Ahsoka’s hand over his mouth.

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” Joseph said, turning to Ahsoka. “What would you like? Pork? Beef? Rabbit?”

“Pork,” she said, her eyes lighting up at the thought.

“One moment.” Joseph left the church.

Ahsoka removed her hand from Anakin’s face and wiped it on his robes.

“Hey!” he protested.

“Your spit, your robes.”

“Well, maybe if you kept your hand—”

“Well, maybe if you keep your—”

 _“Stop,”_ Obi-Wan groaned.

“She started it,” Anakin whined.

“What? No I didn’t!” Ahsoka protested. “You’re the one who—"

But just then, Joseph came back inside. He held out a pork chop to Ahsoka. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks…” she said, taking the pork from Joseph and looking in confusion at the tiny piece of food. It was so small that she could easily close her hand around it, even with how small her hands were.

Joseph smiled. “My pleasure,” he said, but didn’t leave. He just stood there staring at Ahsoka.

She just stared back, as she didn’t feel comfortable eating with him watching.

“Ah…” Joseph began, “may I ask, if you aren’t human, what are you?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m a Togruta. Ever heard of them?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“What are those things on your head?”

She pointed to the top of her head. “These are montrals. They’re how I hear. And these,” she lifted a lek in her hand, “are lekku. Singular _lek_.”

“What are your… _lekku_ for?”

“What’s your hair for?” she shot back. “Okay, that’s not really fair, because hair is basically useless—”

“Hey! I like my hair and so does Padmé!” Anakin broke in.

“—while if one of my lekku gets hurt, it gives me a huge headache and I get really irritable and go to bed and curl into a ball and cry for hours,” Ahsoka went on.

“So basically like—” Anakin began, but Ahsoka put her hand over his mouth again so that his words were nothing more than unintelligible mumbles.

“Ah… all right then,” Joseph said, nodding slowly. He turned to Obi-Wan, who was currently looking in the direction of the sky and asking why he had to be stuck with these two. “There will be a village meeting soon. We would appreciate it if you would consider attending.”

“We certainly will,” Obi-Wan said, turning his gaze back down to Joseph and nodding.

“Very well. Enjoy the food.” Joseph bowed again and left.

Ahsoka wiped her hand on Anakin’s robes again and gave him one last glare before looking down at the pork in her hand. A faint little number 3 hovered above it. She tried to touch the 3, but her finger went through it like it would a hologram.

“Look,” she said, holding up the meat so Anakin could see. “What’s this number here for?”

Anakin looked at it. “I don’t know. But look, it’s the same type of writing as our names.”

“What?”

“You know, our names above our heads.” He pointed to his. Or at least where he thought his was. He really just pointed at empty air. But Ahsoka got the idea.

“Oh!” she said excitedly. “I bet it’s the stack thingy. Like, I have three pork chops.”

“Just looks like one to me,” Anakin said.

“Yeah…” Ahsoka grabbed two sides of the pork chop and pulled in opposite directions. She didn’t even pull that hard, but the meat split into two pieces identical to the original. Now, one had a 2 and the other was blank.

“Pulled pork,” Anakin deadpanned. “Ayyyyy…”

Ignoring him, Ahsoka lifted the blank one and took a bite. Actually, the pork was so small that it _was_ the bite.

But anyway, it tasted great.

“Mm,” she said around the food in her mouth. She swallowed, frowning as the food hit her stomach. “Whoa… that felt like way more than I actually ate.”

“Ah. So you can eat fast and still get full. Just like in the game,” Anakin said.

“I guess.” Ahsoka tucked the other two pieces of meat in her pocket.

“How did you separate them, Ahsoka?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I just pulled it apart,” she said.

Obi-Wan looked at the food on the table. “Well, the milk is already separate.” He handed one bucket (cup?) each to Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex.

Anakin looked down at his milk. He swirled it around, then frowned. Holding the cup out in front of him, he turned it upside-down.

“Anakin—” Obi-Wan began.

But nothing came out. Anakin frowned again. He held the cup above his face and turned it upside-down again so he could see why the milk wasn’t falling.

“Huh,” he said. “It’s not—” Just then, the milk came out and splashed over Anakin’s face. “Ugh.”

Obi-Wan chuckled. Rex snickered behind his fist. Ahsoka, not even bothering to hide her amusement, broke into a full-on giggle fit.

Anakin wiped his glove across his face. “Yeah, yeah. Get it all out now,” he grumbled.

“I think you’re the one who _got it all out,_ Master,” Ahsoka said, gasping for breath. “I guess… I guess it just has to be close to your mouth?” She lifted her own cup to her lips and easily drained it. But when she lowered the cup, it grew to the size of a bucket.

“Interesting,” Obi-Wan said. “Ahsoka, try to put it in your pocket.”

She did. As soon as the bucket got close to her pocket, it shrank to cup size again. Even with the pork already in the pocket, the bucket fit.

“Like the beds,” she said.

“Yeah,” Anakin said. “I was wondering how the inventory and stuff would work.”

“I need a lot more pockets, though,” Ahsoka said.

“Now let’s see…” Obi-Wan said to himself, picking up the apple, which had a small 4 on it. He took the apple firmly in his hands and pulled at it. It split into two identical apples. Obi-Wan repeated the process until there were four apples. He threw one to Anakin and one to Rex, then held a third out to Ahsoka.

She shook her head. The pork had been more than enough.

“Come. Keep it for later,” Obi-Wan said.

Ahsoka took the apple and tried to put it in her pocket. It didn’t fit.

“Hey, Rex!” she called. “Can you hold on to this for me?” She tossed her apple to him.

Rex caught the fruit and put it into one of the pockets on his belt. “I told you, Commander, you should have more than one pocket on your belt.”

“Sorry, Rex, I would’ve done that if I knew we would be going to Minecraft World today.”

Chuckling to himself, Obi-Wan picked up the bread and distributed it. He, Anakin, and Rex finished their meal in a matter of seconds, what with the bread being so small.

“You’re right, Snips,” Anakin said.

“Always,” she said, smirking.

“Stop it,” he said, glaring playfully. “I mean, that _does_ feel like way more than it was.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. “When you two are done, we’ll go to the meeting.”

“Coming right along, Master,” Anakin said. “After Ahsoka puts the blanket back.” He gave her a look.

She pouted, but climbed the ladder and returned the blanket to the bed.

Anakin nodded in approval and followed Obi-Wan out the door. Ahsoka and Rex were close behind.

Most of the villagers were already gathered in the center of the village, although a few were still making their way over. Obi-Wan started in that direction, and the others followed.

“Rex, what do you think this meeting’s about?” Ahsoka asked, falling into step with him as Obi-Wan led the way.

“Probably us, if I had to guess, Commander.”

She didn’t have an answer to that.

Suddenly, Ahsoka felt a _clunk, clunk, clunk_ in her montrals. It was almost like… footsteps. She looked to the source of the noise and saw what looked like a giant metal statue. It was covered in vines with yellow flowers, and its eyes were red. And it was… walking?

Ahsoka was about to say something when Joseph met them on the path. “Ah! Here you are!” he said pleasantly.

“What _is_ that?” Ahsoka asked, pointing to the giant metal creature.

Joseph spun on his heel to see what Ahsoka was pointing at. Then he spun back around to face her. “That is Jared, our iron golem. He protects the village.”

Jared, hearing his name, turned and approached the four.

“Looks like he could take out a good chunk of clankers,” Rex said, looking up at Jared.

Joseph looked at Rex, his eyebrows furrowing. “Clankers? Are you referring to skeletons?”

Rex sighed. “You know what, sure,” he said. Then he turned to Ahsoka. “This place just gets better and better, huh, Commander?” he whispered.

She shrugged. “Skeletons aren’t that bad.”

“Says the Jedi,” Rex muttered.

“Says the guy who was literally made for fighting,” Ahsoka shot back, grinning proudly at her comeback.

Then she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. She turned to look.

Jared was holding his hand out to Ahsoka. As she watched, a little red flower sprouted from his palm and he held it out to her.

She carefully reached out and took the flower. “Thank you,” she said, smiling and looking up at Jared. He didn’t have a mouth, but Ahsoka was pretty sure his eyes were smiling. She tucked the flower into her pocket.

Jared then turned to Rex, summoning another flower in his hand.

“Uh… thanks,” Rex said, taking the flower.

Jared held out a flower to Anakin.

“Uh, I’m good. Thanks,” Anakin said.

“Take it, Anakin,” Obi-Wan hissed.

“Why?”

“Take it. _Now.”_

“Fine.” Anakin reached out and picked the flower from Jared’s hand. "Hey, you know what? We both have metal hands!" he said, looking up at Jared and chuckling nervously.

Jared looked at Anakin for a moment, then made one more flower for Obi-Wan.

“Thank you kindly,” Obi-Wan said, accepting the flower with a slight nod of his head.

Jared nodded back and lumbered off toward the center of the village.

“Metal hands?” Joseph inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Yup,” Anakin said, reaching over with his left hand to unbuckle the glove on his right. "Metal _hand,_ though. I only have one." He pulled his glove off and held up his hand for Joseph to see, flexing the fingers.

Joseph reached out his own hand toward the prosthetic. “May I?”

“Go ahead,” Anakin said.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “Don’t get him started.”

“Fascinating,” Joseph breathed, inspecting the mechanisms of the hand and watching as they moved in perfect harmony. “Does it use redstone?”

“Uh… no,” Anakin said.

“What does it run on?”

“Something… else?”

“I see,” Joseph said, though he looked like he didn’t. He released Anakin’s hand. “Well, come along! Mustn’t keep the others waiting!” He set off toward the center of the village. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Rex, and Ahsoka followed, Anakin pulling his glove back on as they walked.

When they all arrived at the meeting area, Joseph beckoned them to stand in front of the fountain. “Villagers,” he began, loud enough for all to hear, “last night these four strangers came to us in need of aid.” He gestured to the three Jedi and Rex.

The villagers stared at the newcomers, but especially at Ahsoka. She let her eyes drift over the group, making eye contact with each and every staring villager until they stopped staring.

“Hello there,” Obi-Wan said, giving a friendly Negotiator wave.

He was met with a lot of _hmm_ ing.

“Shall they stay?” Joseph asked.

A villager raised his hand. Joseph pointed to him.

“I think we should send them elsewhere,” the villager said. “They are a threat. Look at that one—what is she? Not one of us, that’s for sure.”

A chorus of nervous _hmm_ s.

Ahsoka probably would have attacked the villager, but Anakin held her back.

Another villager raised her hand, and Joseph pointed to her.

“They could help us against the mobs,” the villager said.

More _hmm_ s went up. Ahsoka realized it was the type of _hmm_ a villager made after you traded with them.

Joseph held up his hands. “A vote,” he declared. “All for allowing them to stay?”

Some hands went up.

Joseph started pointing and counting to himself. When he was finished, he called, “All for having them leave?”

A lot more hands went up.

Joseph counted them, just to be sure. Then he turned to Obi-Wan. “I’m terribly sorry, my friend,” Joseph said, spreading his hands in front of him and smiling apologetically. “Democracy.”

“Their concern is understandable,” Obi-Wan said. “We’ll be on our way.”

“Oh, no, don’t be leaving just yet,” Joseph said quickly. “We can give you some food and tools.”

“Thank you, that would be most appreciated,” Obi-Wan said.

Joseph turned to the villagers. “It has been decided. The strangers will leave, but we will give them supplies. This meeting is adjourned.”

The villagers began to disperse and go about their daily business.

“Now,” Joseph said, turning back to the Jedi and Rex, “if you’ll follow me, we’ll see if we can’t get you some things.” He led them to a low building made of stone. The building had a porch of sorts. On the porch was a grindstone, as well as two furnaces and a basin of lava.

“Hey! Luke!” Joseph called to the villager working at the grindstone.

Luke looked up from his work.

“We need some tools for our friends here,” Joseph said.

“Yes, yes, of course. Come in, come in,” Luke said, beckoning them up onto the porch and into the building. “What do you need?”

“Swords, pickaxes, and axes,” Joseph said.

Luke looked at Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex for a moment. Then he opened a chest, murmuring to himself. Although Luke wasn’t talking to anyone but himself, Ahsoka heard every word.

“Four swords, so that’s eight… four picks and four axes… that’s twelve and twelve, so twenty-four, thirty-two in all.” There was a _clunk,_ and then Luke lifted an iron ingot from the chest, marked with a little number _32._ He placed it on the crafting table. “Now four and eight and eight is… twenty,” he said, delving back into the chest.

_Clunk._

“Here we are,” Luke said, pulling out a stick with _20_ on it. “Now let’s see.” He went over to the crafting table.

Ahsoka, curious as to how this part would work, went over to watch. Anakin followed her.

Luke picked up the iron ingot and pulled it in two. Now he held two ingots with a _24_ and an _8._ He split the _8_ ingot in half, placing the resulting _4_ ingots above each other in the crafting table’s slots. Luke repeated the process with the sticks, making stacks of _16_ and _4_ and placing the _4_ stack in the slot under the ingots.

A miniature sword materialized, hovering above the table. It was a straight blade made of iron, with a leather-wrapped handle and a metal hand guard. Luke grabbed the sword, and it grew to full size. The numbers on the items in the crafting slots went from _4_ to _3._

“Whoa,” Anakin and Ahsoka said in unison.

Luke handed the sword to Ahsoka.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the sword. It was heavier than a lightsaber, but still not too heavy. She looked down at her belt and tried to attach the sword somehow. But when the sword touched the clip where Ahsoka’s lightsaber would usually be, the blade shrank and disappeared until only a handle was left. The handle itself stuck on to the belt like a magnet to metal.

“Like a lightsaber,” Anakin said.

It was the work of a moment for Luke to give Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Rex swords of their own. Anakin and Obi-Wan attached their swords to their belts like Ahsoka had, but Rex found that his fit nicely into one of his holsters.

“Oh,” Ahsoka said quickly. “Do you mind, um… making me another sword?”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “May I ask why?”

“I fight better with two.”

Luke shrugged. “Don’t see why not.” He went into the chest and grabbed another stick and two more ingots. A few moments later, Ahsoka had two swords on her belt.

Luke then went about crafting the other tools, and soon enough, Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Rex were each given a pickaxe and axe. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Rex still had plenty of pockets, so they stowed their tools away. Ahsoka, however, was stuck just holding hers.

“Kid, you really need to get some more pockets,” Rex said.

“You all do. Come,” Joseph said, leading them out of the building. “Thank you, Luke.”

Luke waved and went back to his grindstone.

Joseph took the three Jedi and Rex to another building. This one was made of wood and had a large pot of some sort outside. A villager was dipping something into the pot, dyeing it, but she paused and looked up when Joseph approached.

“Hello, dearest,” she said, smiling sweetly.

“Hello, dearest… er?” Joseph said. He turned to the others, his face slightly red. “Friends, this is my lovely wife, Mary.”

“A pleasure,” Obi-Wan said, giving a slight bow.

“Pleasure’s mine,” Mary said. “Now, what can I do for you?”

“They need bags,” Joseph said.

“Well, I’m not the best leatherworker in the village for nothing!” Mary said, rubbing her hands together. “So, what exactly do you need?”

Obi-Wan looked around at the others. “Just… four bags of some sort, please.”

“And a couple more pockets for my belt,” Ahsoka added.

“Excellent. I’ll be right back,” Mary said, going into the house.

Ahsoka went over to Anakin. “How do you craft a bag? Or a pocket?”

He frowned. “Now that you mention it, Snips, I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.”

In a few moments, Mary returned. She gave Obi-Wan, Anakin, Rex, and Ahsoka each a leather satchel. Ahsoka also got two new pockets, which she attached to either side of her belt. She put her pickaxe and axe away.

“Thank you, Mary,” Obi-Wan said.

“Of course,” she said. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you, I think that’s all.”

She smiled, nodded, and went back to dyeing leather.

“Thank you, Mary,” Joseph said. He turned to Obi-Wan. “Now—”

He was cut off by the blowing of a horn.

Ahsoka recognized the sound. She and Anakin, being the only ones familiar with Minecraft, looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Master?” Ahsoka said.

“Snips?” he replied.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked.

Anakin nodded. “Probably.”

“Probably what, Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin’s eyes narrowed, and he reached for his sword.

“A raid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha! Cliffhanger! But I thought it was a good stopping point, because this chapter was so long. I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Raiders of the Not-Lost Village

“What are you talking about, Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked.

“A raid,” Anakin said, pulling his sword from his belt. “A bunch of mobs are coming to attack the village and they won’t stop until either all of them or all of the villagers are dead.”

Ahsoka’s brow furrowed. “Master, why is a raid getting triggered right now? None of us had Bad Omen, did we?”

Anakin shrugged. “Maybe just us coming here was a bad omen.”

The horn sounded again, closer this time.

Obi-Wan and Rex looked back and forth between Anakin and Ahsoka in confusion.

“I’m not even going to ask,” Obi-Wan muttered.

“Yeah, we don’t have time for questions,” Anakin said. He swung his sword around to get a feel for it, then turned to Joseph. “Get everyone inside.”

Joseph nodded and ran off. Soon after, a bell rang, warning villagers to take shelter.

“All right,” Anakin said, looking at Ahsoka. “Snips, what’s the first wave? Do you remember?”

“Ah… I think it’s just pillagers,” Ahsoka said.

“Okay.” Anakin turned to Obi-Wan and Rex. “So first we have… pillagers. Annoying guys with crossbows. They can’t shoot very fast, so they’re only really bad if there’s a lot in one place. But with all four of us, we should be okay. Good?”

Obi-Wan nodded slowly.

“Uh, sir?” Rex said. “I know you three are Jedi and all, but… how am _I_ supposed to fight with a sword if they can shoot?”

“I think I can help with that,” came Joseph’s voice. He ran up with a bow in hand.

“What are you doing here?” Anakin demanded. “I thought I told you to go inside.”

“Thought you would need a few of these,” he said, holding up the bow.

“As long as it’s not a sword,” Rex muttered. He took the bow from Joseph.

Joseph held out an arrow. It had a little number _64_ hovering near its center and was about the size of a pencil. “I’d recommend keeping that on your arm.”

Rex took the arrow. He looked at it, then at his arm, then at Joseph.

Joseph sighed. “Just… put it there,” he said, gesturing to Rex’s forearm.

Frowning down at his arm, Rex touched the arrow to his vambrace. When he let go, it stayed there.

“Huh,” Rex said.

“There you are,” Joseph said. He turned to Anakin and held out another bow.

“Fine,” Anakin sighed. He took a bow and arrow from Joseph, slapping the arrow onto the side of his glove. The arrow stuck firmly onto the glove, and the number _64_ grew larger.

Ahsoka stepped forward and took a bow and arrow from Joseph too. She put her arrow on her arm. Then she and Anakin both looked expectantly at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan sighed. He stepped forward and took a bow and arrow. Anakin could’ve sworn he heard him mutter something under his breath.

Ahsoka giggled. _“So uncivilized,”_ she mimicked in a terrible impression of Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan gave her an Obi-Wan Look.

But just then, the bell rang again, cutting off any potential lectures. Then the horn sounded, just outside the village.

Obi-Wan slapped his arrow onto his arm. “Well then, shall we begin?”

An arrow flew past his face.

They all turned to look for the arrow’s shooter.

Not far from the village was a forest. A pillager stood just outside said forest, about twenty or thirty blocks away, wearing a dark tunic and carrying a crossbow.

“I suppose that’s a yes,” Obi-Wan said, drawing his sword and twirling it into his usual Soresu stance.

But Anakin was already running forward, drawing his sword as he ran.

The pillager raised its crossbow.

Without thinking, Anakin raised his sword into a precise position, just knowing exactly where he had to put it, not unlike how he deflected blaster bolts.

The arrow glanced harmlessly off his sword.

The pillager looked shocked.

Anakin smirked.

Then he frowned. How had he done that? He shouldn’t have been able to react like that without the Force.

Oh well. He always was gifted.

Anakin charged forward. The pillager was in the process of reloading its crossbow when Anakin took it down with a swift swing of his sword.

But the pillager never hit the ground. With a _whoosh,_ its body turned into dust that drifted silently away on the air.

Suddenly, the sound of a crossbow being loaded hit Anakin’s ears. He looked toward the sound and saw another pillager.

Anakin’s eyes widened. He raised his sword to block the incoming shot.

Just then, Ahsoka landed on top of the pillager, both her swords flashing. The pillager fell over sideways, never getting a chance to fire.

Anakin gave a grim smirk. He almost felt bad for that pillager.

When Ahsoka had finished, she stood up and twirled her swords. “Saved you.”

“What are you talking about?” Anakin protested. “I would’ve been fine.”

“Maybe,” she said, smiling sweetly. “We’ll never know."

Anakin rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Where’s the rest?”

Right as the word _rest_ left Anakin’s mouth, something hit him in the back. He could only compare it to a paintball. No, a _pain_ tball. Emphasis on _pain._

Anakin stumbled and fell to the ground with a yell of… well, pain.

He heard footsteps—Ahsoka’s, he realized—run past him.

With a groan, he reached up to feel his nose where he had hit it on the ground.

That was probably the least of his worries.

Then he heard footsteps hurrying toward him.

“No, no…” came Ahsoka’s voice.

There was a hand on his shoulder, carefully rolling him onto his side.

“Master, are you okay?”

Ahsoka’s face dropped into Anakin’s view. Her eyes were wide and she looked worried, but Anakin could only think that it was kind of funny how she was pretty much lying on the ground to look at him.

“Master?”

“Yeah,” Anakin said, pushing himself up on his elbow. His eyes subconsciously squeezed shut at the pain that shot through his back. “Totally… fine.” He could feel blood starting to soak into his robes, but Ahsoka didn’t need to know that.

“Anakin…” came Obi-Wan’s voice.

Anakin sighed. Only Obi-Wan could make a single word carry a meaning like _you idiot you went and got yourself shot again why do you make me deal with you._

Anakin opened his eyes. “Where’s the pillager?”

“I got him,” Ahsoka said. “How about you worry about the fact that you just got shot?”

Anakin waved his hand. “Eh, I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt that much anymore.” He tried to get up, but Ahsoka pushed him back down by the shoulders.

 _“Fine_ has variable definitions,” she said.

“One of which is _Anakin Skywalker,”_ Anakin said with a smirk.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

Obi-Wan crouched down to inspect Anakin’s injury. “Ah… Anakin? There’s no arrow.”

“Wait, _what?”_ Anakin twisted in Ahsoka’s grip, trying to somehow look at his own back. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure _something_ hit me…” he deadpanned.

“There is nothing here,” Obi-Wan insisted.

“Okay, old man, you must need glasses. Rex? Snips?”

Rex leaned over to look. “General Kenobi is correct, sir.”

Ahsoka craned her neck to look over Anakin, keeping a firm hold on his shoulders. “Yeah,” she added helpfully.

“Hole in my robes? Anything?”

“Just, uh… some blood?” Ahsoka said.

“Thanks, Snips,” Anakin muttered. “I couldn’t tell.” He sighed and unbuckled his belt. “All right, let’s see.”

Ahsoka finally let go of Anakin, leaving him free to push up his tabard and tunics as she pointedly looked away. He winced as the less-than-soft fabric brushed over the injury.

“Yeah—something sure _feels_ wrong back there,” he said.

“Ha! Told you,” Ahsoka said.

“Well…” Obi-Wan said slowly, “there is an injury, but it doesn’t look that ba—” He stopped.

That didn’t sound good. “Um, what?” Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan didn’t reply. He just gently brushed his fingers over the injury.

Anakin winced again. “Hey, be ca—” He blinked.

It didn’t hurt at all.

“It’s… it’s gone,” Obi-Wan breathed, confirming Anakin’s suspicions.

“Wait, what?” Ahsoka said incredulously. She leaned over to look.

“It just… disappeared,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin waved her away. “Yeah, see? I told you so. I am the definition of _fine.”_ He pulled his tunics and tabard back down.

Ahsoka froze. Her eyes went wide and she leaped to her feet. “Oh yeah, right, we’re stupid!” she whisper-yelled, holding her face between her hands.

Anakin pushed himself to his feet and buckled his belt. “Speak for yourself, Snips,” he said, smirking. He bent down to pick up his sword.

“Minecraft healing factor!” Ahsoka said, gesturing to him with both hands. “That’s why you’re fine now.”

Anakin paused. “Right. That would explain it.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat behind them. “Care to fill us in?”

Ahsoka sighed and turned to Obi-Wan. “Okay. Here, you can heal really fast. Like, _waaay_ faster than in real life.”

“So can you not die?” Rex asked.

Ahsoka shook her head vigorously, raising both hands in front of her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah, you can still die.”

“Oh,” Rex said quietly. “Good to know.”

“I assume that the, ah, _pillagers_ heal quickly as well?” Obi-Wan said.

“Actually…” Ahsoka looked at Anakin.

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t… _think?”_

“Well, that’s certainly true,” Obi-Wan muttered.

“Hey!” Anakin yelled.

The horn sounded again from the direction of the forest.

All four turned to look, hands edging toward swords and bows.

A single pillager came running out of the forest toward the village.

The Jedi reached for their swords, and Rex for his bow.

Just then, the hulking iron form of Jared appeared from nowhere. With a dull _clunk,_ Jared’s metal fist hit the pillager.

The four watched as the pillager went flying over the trees.

“I think it’s safe to say that one’s done,” Anakin said.

“We need to bring that guy back with us,” Rex breathed.

The bell rang. The horn sounded again.

“Second wave…” Anakin said. He looked at Ahsoka.

“Vindicators,” she said, answering his unspoken question. She turned to Obi-Wan and Rex. “Guys with axes who run fast and hit pretty hard.”

“This just gets better and better,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Anakin gave a short laugh. “Oh, you just wait.”

A pillager emerged from the forest.

“What is it with these guys and the forest?” Ahsoka grumbled. She drew her swords again, and Anakin followed suit.

But before any of the Jedi could do anything, an arrow flew past them and smacked into the pillager’s head. The pillager fell and dissolved into dust.

Anakin looked back at Rex, who seemed to have fired the shot.

Rex shrugged. “It’s not a DC-17, but it works.” Then his eyes widened and he quickly nocked another arrow.

Anakin whirled back around in time to see Rex’s next shot hit another pillager.

“Come on, Rex, leave some for us,” Ahsoka whined.

“With all due respect, Commander, you have one of these too,” Rex said, holding up his bow. “Also, I didn’t quite, uh…” he gestured toward the pillager, “get him.”

Indeed, the shot had hit the pillager in the arm. It looked more angry than injured.

“Ooh, okay,” Ahsoka said a little too eagerly, taking out her bow.

The pillager grunted angrily and ran toward the four. As if that wasn’t enough, a vindicator came out from behind a tree and joined the pillager.

“Oh, joy,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Anakin reached for his sword. He wasn’t desperate enough to use his bow just yet.

Ahsoka loosed an arrow in the general direction of the mobs.

The arrow flew between the pillager and the vindicator, who didn’t even flinch.

Rex calmly fired a shot and took down the pillager.

“Hey!” Ahsoka cried. “That was mine!”

“Oh. Sorry, Commander,” Rex said, lowering his bow and taking a step back.

“Snips, there’s still, uh, that guy,” Anakin said. “You know, the one running towards us really fast? With the axe?”

“I know, I know,” Ahsoka grumbled. She nocked an arrow and fired it at the vindicator.

The shot hit the vindicator in the shoulder, delaying it for about one second before it recovered and continued running.

And then, for no apparent reason, the vindicator fell forward and collapsed into dust.

Anakin and Ahsoka let out a simultaneous “Huh?”

“Rex, did you shoot that one too?” Ahsoka demanded, whirling to face him.

Rex held up both hands in front of himself as if to defend himself from Ahsoka’s wrath. “No, Commander!” His voice was higher than usual.

Suddenly, an arrow flew past Anakin’s head, much too close for comfort. He dodged it, his head instinctively whipping around to follow its path.

Then he looked back to the source of the arrow.

A pillager stood some distance away, reloading its crossbow.

“Oh. Well, hello there,” Obi-Wan said.

“He must have accidentally shot his own guy,” Rex said. “Stupid.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka said. She nocked an arrow. “Okay. Third time’s the charm.”

“In other words, you hope for _luck,”_ Obi-Wan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Anakin couldn’t see Ahsoka’s face, but he could _feel_ her rolling her eyes.

Ahsoka released the arrow.

It embedded itself into the ground at the pillager’s feet.

Ahsoka groaned and dropped her bow.

“Padawan—” Obi-Wan began.

But she was already running toward the pillager, iron swords flashing in the sunlight.

The pillager frantically reloaded its crossbow and fired a shot at Ahsoka, but she simply twisted her sword and deflected it, sending it into the pillager’s foot. Then she leaped and spun in a circle, swinging both swords in an arc that quickly incapacitated the pillager.

Anakin watched in stunned silence as Ahsoka came back to the group.

She picked up her bow and looked at it for a moment.

Then she looked at Rex.

“Uh, Commander?” Rex said slowly.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t really want this thing. Do you?”

“Uh… I’m not sure if I could really use two at once.”

“I know, I’m trying to think of how you would.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as everyone stared at Ahsoka, who was staring at the ground thinking.

“Here,” Anakin said after a moment. “Just give it to him so he can use it when his breaks.”

Ahsoka’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah, stuff breaks!” She handed Rex her bow and took out her swords.

“Thanks, kid,” Rex said, putting the bow in his bag.

“No problem,” she said absently, looking down at her swords. “Where’s the durability…”

Anakin took out his own sword and inspected it. After a moment, he found a green line running down the hilt.

“On the handle, I think,” he said.

Ahsoka looked down. “Oh, yeah.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

“Sorry, Master,” Anakin said. “Tools and stuff break after you use them for a while. And this,” he held up his sword and indicated the green durability meter, “shows you how much durability it has.”

Obi-Wan inspected his own sword, then nodded. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“These break too, sir?” Rex asked, looking at his bow.

“Yes,” Anakin said.

Rex looked at his bow for a moment more, then nodded. “All right. Found it.”

“Okay, glad we got that cleared up. Now, let’s go find the rest of the mobs,” Anakin said, twirling his sword.

“Mobs?” Obi-Wan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Short for _mobiles._ Basically, a mob is anything that’s alive here. Except us.”

“Right,” Obi-Wan sighed.

“So… we just follow the horn, right?” Ahsoka said, looking at Anakin.

He shrugged. “I guess. But I don’t hear it.”

Ahsoka tilted her head and listened. “Me neither.”

“Thank you for your opinion,” Anakin teased.

“I have better hearing than you. My opinion is very important here. I mean, more so than usual.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “Come on. Let’s go look around.” He started off, intending to patrol around the perimeter of the village.

It wasn’t long before Anakin heard the horn. He turned around in a circle, trying to figure out where it had come from.

Ahsoka darted past him, probably following her advanced Togruta senses.

Years together with Ahsoka had taught Anakin that while Ahsoka was often wrong, her senses never were.

He followed his Padawan.

By the time he caught up with her, she was already putting her swords away. She turned to him and smiled.

“Let’s see, I think that’s…” she looked up at the sky and counted on her fingers, “four for me and one for you.”

“It’s not fair!” Anakin protested. “You’re literally built for hunting!”

She smirked. “I know, it’s great. Oh, and look. I got armor.” She reached into her belt and took out a tiny pair of iron boots and a tiny piece of iron leg armor. “When they drop stuff, it just automatically goes into your inventory.”

“Fascinating,” Anakin said, stroking his chin in an impression of Obi-Wan.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes at him. She sat down against a tree and brought the boots close to her feet, intending to put them on.

But they stayed tiny.

She frowned. “How do I put these on?” she asked, tapping the iron boots against one of the leather ones she was already wearing.

The boots disappeared from her hand and materialized full-size on her feet.

 _“That_ would be how,” Anakin said.

“So maybe if I…” Ahsoka tapped an iron boot with her finger.

Nothing happened.

“Come on…” She tapped twice.

Nothing.

“Please?” She tapped three times.

The boots disappeared from her feet and appeared in tiny form in her hand.

“Oh,” she said, smiling. “You have to say _please.”_

“I think it was the three taps,” Anakin said.

“Yeah, Skyguy,” Ahsoka said. “I was kidding.” She put the boots back on, then put on the leg armor.

Once again, the bell rang and the horn sounded.

“ANAKIN!” Obi-Wan yelled.

Over the years, Anakin had learned to interpret Obi-Wan’s many different tones of speech. With Obi-Wan, the tone often said more than the actual words being spoken. This yell was in the _I-think-I-need-help-but-I’m-not-going-to-say-it-straight-up_ tone.

“Come on, let’s go rescue Master Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka said, jumping up and running toward Obi-Wan’s voice.

She probably knew about Obi-Wan’s tones too.

For the second time that day, Anakin found himself following after his Padawan instead of the other way around. He ran to catch up.

But just as he did catch up with her, she came to a sudden stop.

“Whoa!” he cried, just barely managing to slip sideways so he skidded past Ahsoka instead of running her over. “What the—"

She tapped her montral. “Ravager.”

“Ah, kriff,” Anakin muttered.

“This way!” Ahsoka called, already running again.

Anakin whirled around and followed her.

Soon enough, Anakin heard a repetitive _clunk, clunk, clunk._ It was probably the sound Ahsoka had been following.

Ahsoka turned around the corner of a village house and stopped in her tracks.

Anakin came up behind her and peeked over her head.

A giant beast—a ravager—was chasing after Obi-Wan and Rex with heavy steps that made the deep _clunk_ ing noises Ahsoka and Anakin had heard.

As Anakin and Ahsoka watched, Rex stopped, whirled around, and fired off four arrows at the ravager.

Each arrow hit the ravager directly in the face, but it grunted and just kept coming.

Rex turned and ran.

Obi-Wan smacked the ravager with his sword before running after Rex.

Anakin laughed. He knew he shouldn’t find this funny, but he couldn’t help it. “Hello there!” he called in his best Obi-Wan accent.

Obi-Wan somehow managed to glare at him while running for his life.

“Feel free to offer assistance! Any time!” he yelled.

“What? This is fun!” Anakin said.

“You’re not the one being chased by a mutant reek!”

“It’s not a reek, it’s a ravager, get it right, Master!”

“I don’t care what it is, it’s trying to kill us!”

“Is this your way of asking for help?”

“ANAKIN!”

That was the _stop-being-an-insolent-youngling_ tone.

“Fine, fine,” Anakin muttered. He touched Ahsoka’s shoulder. “Stay here.”

She smirked. “This is where the fun begins,” she said, sitting down against the wall of a house.

Anakin took a deep breath and looked at Obi-Wan, Rex, and the ravager. Currently they were all running in a circle around a tree.

“HEY!” Anakin bellowed.

Obi-Wan and Rex looked up, but the ravager didn’t.

“You! Big guy with horns!”

Nothing.

“I don’t think he’s listening!” Obi-Wan yelled.

Anakin thought about that.

Obi-Wan was probably right. As usual.

Anakin didn’t want to go anywhere near the ravager. Like Obi-Wan said, it was too similar to a reek, and Anakin officially hated reeks after Geonosis.

He pulled out his bow. He didn’t use any type of ranged weapon in real life (it would just be one more thing for the Council to get mad about), but he had proven himself to be a good shot with a bow during his and Ahsoka’s many PvP sessions.

Anakin grabbed an arrow and nocked it, watching it grow to fit the size of the bow. He pulled back the string and aimed, keeping in mind the distance from him to the target, the time the arrow would take to travel, and how far gravity would pull the arrow down in that time.

When he knew the time was right, he released the string.

The arrow flew straight and true and hit the ravager in the side.

 _That_ got its attention.

The ravager stopped chasing after Rex and Obi-Wan and turned to Anakin.

“Uh… hey,” Anakin said.

The ravager snarled and charged.

Anakin hurriedly nocked another arrow and shot the ravager in the face.

It didn’t even flinch.

“Kark,” Anakin muttered.

Then he ran.

The ravager thumped after him, crushing grass and flowers with its heavy steps.

Anakin turned around and fired another arrow.

As before, it didn’t seem to do much.

He kept running.

Maybe he could get up somewhere the ravager couldn’t. The high ground, as Obi-Wan would say.

Anakin looked frantically around. There was a house with a low-hanging roof. That would probably do.

He ran toward the house and leaped. Even without the Force, he managed a high enough jump to get his arms over the edge of the roof. He quickly pulled himself up.

“It’s over, Ravager,” Anakin said, trying to imitate Obi-Wan’s accent. He turned around and smirked. “I have—”

The ravager had somehow managed to get onto the edge of the roof.

“Ah, kriff.” Anakin hurriedly fired an arrow, then leaped to the ground.

He spared a second to send another arrow at the ravager, hoping it would maybe do something.

Nothing.

Anakin turned and almost ran into a cow, meandering across the path in front of him.

“Move, move, move!” he yelled, waving his hand.

The cow ignored him.

Anakin ran around the cow and down the path.

A second later, he heard frantic mooing as the cow scrambled out of the way of the ravager.

“Told you so,” he yelled over his shoulder, not slowing his pace.

Then he turned his attention forward again. What could he use to his advantage? There was a hill, lots of houses, lots of trees.

Trees. That might work. Maybe the ravager couldn’t fit into the forest.

Suddenly, said ravager roared.

Anakin spun around to look.

The ravager seemed to have forgotten about him. It was bucking around, apparently trying to shake something off.

A familiar blur of orange and white.

Anakin squinted. “That better not be…”

It was.

Ahsoka had somehow managed to jump onto the ravager’s back. Iron flashed in the sunlight as she smacked the ravager with her swords again and again.

After what felt like forever, the ravager gave one last groan and went limp.

Ahsoka threw her arms in the air in victory. “Ha ha! That’s six!”

Anakin smirked, knowing what was coming next.

As he predicted, the ravager dissolved into dust. Ahsoka yelped as she was dropped unceremoniously onto the ground.

Anakin burst out laughing.

Ahsoka sighed and flopped onto her back in the grass.

“I think…” Anakin said between laughs, “I think you need to retake math, Snips. You had four. Four plus one is not six.”

She lifted her head just enough to look at him, her brow furrowing. “It wasn’t four plus one. It was four plus one plus one.”

Anakin raised an eyebrow.

“While you were getting chased around, Rex and Master Obi-Wan and me took care of the rest of the pillagers.”

“Rex and Master Obi-Wan and _I,”_ Anakin said. He personally didn’t much care for grammar, but he had to have something to nag Ahsoka about.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Also, those things have, like, five times more health than pillagers!”

“Well, I did all the work. You just _jumped in,_ ha ha, at the last second.”

“You did _not_ do all the work! Did you see how many times I hit him? While balancing on his back?”

“That still only counts as one, my snippy little friend,” Anakin said. He held out his hand and pulled Ahsoka to her feet. “And I get a point too for all the work I did.”

“Fine, but you still only have two and I have six.”

“I’ll catch up. You just wait.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat quite loudly.

“Oh. Hey Master, when’d you get here?” Anakin said.

“While you were bickering with your Padawan,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “Now, I believe we have things to attend to?”

“Ah. Yes.” Anakin looked around. “Where…”

“Not here,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin rolled his eyes. “Brilliant. Thank you for that insight, Master, never would’ve known.”

“I can hear something,” Ahsoka piped up.

“Lead the way, Snips,” Anakin said, gesturing grandly.

Ahsoka walked past him and onward, slowly at first, then faster as she became more confident.

The horn sounded.

Anakin ran past Ahsoka and in the direction of the horn.

He rounded the corner of a house and saw a woman. She wore long purple and green robes and a black hat with a green jewel on the band.

When the woman saw Anakin, she gave a chilling laugh.

Undeterred, Anakin charged.

The witch—for that was who the woman was—pulled out a bottle from her robes and threw it at Anakin.

He dodged.

Kind of.

The bottle missed him. That was something.

But as it hit the ground, it exploded like a water balloon.

Grayish-blue liquid splashed all over Anakin’s legs, and suddenly it felt like he was running through water.

He tried to push forward, but he could barely move his legs fast enough to walk, let alone run.

Right.

Witches. Potions.

She must’ve thrown Slowness at him.

Just as Anakin came to that realization, the witch threw something else.

He instinctively ducked to the side to dodge.

But there was no need. The potion had not been aimed for him.

Behind Anakin, Ahsoka yelped.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Anakin growled.

He took one more step forward and, with a quick slash of his sword, the witch was gone.

Then he turned back to Ahsoka.

She was hunched over and clutching her stomach, swords forgotten. Green particles rose like steam from her body.

“Master?” she whimpered.

Anakin ran (well, he tried—he ended up staggering) to her side, gently grabbing her hand. “I’m right here, it’s okay.”

She looked up at him, and his heart clenched at how small and vulnerable she looked. “I don’t feel so good.” Then she squinted at him. “You have something…”

Anakin looked down.

Gray-blue particles were rising from his body, similar to the particles surrounding Ahsoka.

“Just Slowness. I’m fine. And you’re gonna be too,” he said, giving her hand a little squeeze. With his other hand, he grabbed Ahsoka’s swords and slipped them into his satchel. He turned around and let Ahsoka grab onto his shoulders before tucking his hands under her knees and standing up.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and she let out a whimper.

“You’re okay, I got you,” he said softly, gently moving her hands away from his throat.

She relaxed, letting her head slump forward against his shoulder. Anakin began walking toward Obi-Wan and Rex, trying to step as smoothly as possible so as to keep Ahsoka comfortable. Obi-Wan and Rex were already jogging in their direction.

“Everything all right?” Obi-Wan asked, falling into step alongside Anakin while Rex did the same on his other side.

Anakin knew his old master well enough to know that this was really his way of asking what exactly the thing was that _wasn’t_ all right.

“Poison,” Anakin said shortly, staring straight ahead.

“Oh, dear,” Obi-Wan murmured. He fell back a bit to look at Ahsoka, laying a hand on her shoulder.

“’M fine,” she whispered, then winced in pain.

Obi-Wan patted her shoulder. “You will be. Soon. Just take it easy.” He stepped forward, level with Anakin again. “Something’s wrong with you too, Anakin.”

He must’ve seen the Slowness particles.

“It just makes me walk slow. I’m fine,” Anakin said. “We need milk. Where is that nerdy villager?”

“Are you referring to Joseph?” Obi-Wan asked. “And why do we need milk?”

“In this world, milk is the antidote to poison. And a whole bunch of other stuff.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said. “Look at that. A cow, how convenient.”

Anakin looked up.

Indeed, there was a cow not far away. Maybe it was the cow that had almost gotten run over by the ravager.

“Snips, I’m gonna put you down, okay?” Anakin said.

She nodded against his shoulder.

Anakin went over to a house and eased Ahsoka to the ground, leaning her against the wall of the house.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

He ran toward the cow.

Oh. He could run again.

The Slowness must have worn off.

He looked down and yes, his Slowness particles were gone.

“Okay,” he said to himself.

As he approached the cow, he reached into his belt and pulled out the bucket he had from breakfast. It grew to full size in his hand.

“Uh… hey, buddy!” he said to the cow. “Remember me?”

The cow mooed.

“Okay…” Anakin scratched the back of his neck. “I need some milk to help my friend.”

The cow looked at him.

“Is that okay?”

The cow mooed again.

“Thanks. Now, how do you…” Anakin crouched down and held out the bucket toward the cow.

Before the bucket even got within a block of the cow, it filled with milk and shrank to its portable size.

“Huh,” Anakin said, looking down at the metal cup of milk in his hand. Then he looked up at the cow and smiled. “Thanks!”

The cow turned and ambled away.

“How rude,” Anakin muttered to himself in a Threepio voice, turning to go back to the others.

* * *

“A success?” Obi-Wan asked as Anakin came running up.

For an answer, Anakin crouched down next to Ahsoka. “Here you go,” he said, lifting the cup toward her lips.

She glared at him over the cup. She hated being babied.

“Trust me, Snips, this is just as weird for me as it is for you,” Anakin said.

She kept glaring as she drank the milk.

When she was done, she pushed herself to her feet, leaning on the wall with one hand.

“Hey, hey, hey, take it easy,” Anakin said, reaching out to support her. “You just got poisoned.”

 _“And_ just got the antidote,” she said, waving his hands away. “There’s just…” She staggered and grabbed at the wall. “just some residual…”

Anakin raised an eyebrow at her.

She glared again. “I’m _fine,_ Master.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you say, Snips. Oh, and I have three now. You better watch out.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. “The raid?”

“Right,” Anakin said. “Let’s go get ‘em.”

They set off around the perimeter of the village again.

When they got around to the blacksmith shop, Ahsoka stopped. “Hey, Master?”

“What’s up, Snips?”

“I have a brilliant idea.”

“Better than getting poisoned?” he said with a smirk.

She gave him an unimpressed look and ran off to the blacksmith shop. A moment later she came running back with a miniature bucket of lava, looking very proud of herself.

Anakin smirked. “Oh, I gotcha,” he said, nodding slowly. “You thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, smirking back.

* * *

“I can hear them,” Ahsoka said. “Two together.”

Anakin peeked around the corner of the building behind which they were hiding, situated conveniently at the top of a hill at the edge of the village. “’Kay, remember to dodge way more than you think you have to,” he said.

“I cannot believe this,” Obi-Wan muttered.

“It’ll be fine. Ready, Snips?”

She nodded.

“All right. Let’s go.” Anakin walked out from behind the building, then ran at full speed down the hill and toward the pair of witches. “AAAAH!” he yelled as he charged.

The witches turned and looked at him like he was crazy.

Anakin didn’t mind. As long as they were staring, they weren’t throwing potions.

As Anakin ran past the two witches, he looked over his shoulder and saw that they were following him.

Perfect.

They never noticed Ahsoka sneaking up behind them.

She dumped her lava bucket on the ground between the witches and then ran past them after Anakin.

Anakin stopped and waited for Ahsoka to catch up before dumping his lava bucket on the ground between them and the witches, just to be safe. He held out his fist toward Ahsoka, who bumped it. Neither of them turned their eyes away from the witches, just in case something happened.

Indeed, something did happen.

The witches were floundering in the lava, flames licking at their robes.

Then they took out bottles of orange liquid from their robes and drank the contents.

The flames around the witches disappeared, and the witches turned their attention back to Anakin and Ahsoka.

“Uh…” Anakin said.

“Right,” Ahsoka said. “Forgot they do that.”

Anakin took out his bow. “Hey! Fire-Resist this!” he yelled, loosing two arrows at the witches.

The arrows both connected, and the witches fell.

Anakin lowered his bow and turned to Ahsoka. “That’s… five for me and six for you, right?”

“Sure,” she grumbled in a playfully angry way, walking off toward the big lava puddle they had made. She scooped her half of the lava back into her bucket and started back up the hill.

Chuckling, Anakin did the same.

When he got to the top of the hill, Ahsoka was looking down the other side of it. Obi-Wan and Rex were nowhere in sight.

Ahsoka turned to Anakin. “Should we… help them?”

Anakin came up and looked where Ahsoka was pointing.

Down on the opposite side of the hill, Obi-Wan and Rex were fighting two pillagers. As Anakin and Ahsoka watched, Obi-Wan deflected an arrow and executed a fancy-looking spin, taking down the pillager who had shot it. Rex dodged a shot from the other pillager and swung his sword. Before the pillager had even finished turning to dust, Rex was putting away his sword and pulling out his bow. He whirled and fired an arrow into yet another pillager that had been running towards them.

The pillager fell and dissolved to dust.

Then, silence.

It didn’t look like they needed help.

Obi-Wan straightened up and wiped his sleeve across his forehead.

“Didn’t leave any for us, Master,” Anakin said, making his way down the hill.

“You didn’t expect us to do nothing while you two ran off to do goodness-knows-what, did you?” Obi-Wan said, putting his sword back on his belt.

“Sir, how many more of these are there?” Rex asked, gesturing around the general area where the pillagers had been.

Ahsoka smirked. “I think _this—”_

The bell rang, and the horn sounded.

“—is the last one,” she finished, looking very proud of herself.

“Nice,” Anakin said.

“Let’s be going, then,” said Obi-Wan.

But at that moment, four vindicators came running toward them with angry grunts.

Rex shot one of them before drawing his sword.

“Stay back!” Obi-Wan cried. He leaped straight into the middle of the three vindicators.

Unsurprisingly, all three of the vindicators fell on him.

But Obi-Wan held his own.

And then some.

Try as they might, the vindicators could not land a hit.

“Oh dear, this is quite unfair. Are there any more of your friends about, by any chance?” Obi-Wan asked, effortlessly parrying two iron axes at once.

Anakin just watched with his mouth hanging open. He looked at Ahsoka and Rex. Ahsoka’s face mirrored Anakin’s own, while Rex was doing a slightly better job of masking his surprise.

Then Ahsoka sucked in a sharp gasp of a breath. “Master?” she said.

Then Anakin heard what she had.

The telltale repetitive _clunk, clunk, clunk_ of a ravager.

“Ahsoka, Rex, go. I’ll get Obi-Wan,” Anakin said.

Rex nodded and turned to leave.

“But—” Ahsoka protested.

“No. You.” Anakin turned her around by the shoulders. “Go.” He gave her a gentle push.

She turned back around, opening her mouth to protest.

 _“Go,”_ Anakin ordered again.

She groaned, turned, and ran after Rex.

Anakin turned back to Obi-Wan. “Master!” he called.

“What?” Obi-Wan called back. He was currently facing away and didn’t turn around.

_“Master!”_

“What?” Obi-Wan still didn’t turn around.

_“MASTER!”_

_“What?”_ Obi-Wan finally turned around, glaring at Anakin while maintaining his flawless defense against the vindicators.

“Stop showing off and come on!” Anakin pointed at the approaching ravager.

Obi-Wan looked where Anakin was pointing, then back at the vindicators. “Afraid I’ve got to go,” he said to the vindicators before cutting them all down in swift succession and following after Anakin.

“Not very Jedi-like to show off, Master,” Anakin said lightly as they ran. “Or toy with your opponents.”

“I was brushing up on my Soresu,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin laughed. “Oh, okay, sure.”

They ran over the hill. Ahsoka and Rex had stopped to wait for them, but when they were all together again, they continued running.

“What’s the plan, Generals?” Rex asked. “And Commander,” he added quickly when Ahsoka glared at him.

“Ask Anakin,” said Obi-Wan.

“I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go,” Anakin muttered.

“Why don’t I just do what I did last time?” Ahsoka suggested.

“What, jumping on its back?” Anakin stared at her incredulously. “No. That was really stupid and dangerous.”

“I was fine!”

“Just because you _were_ fine before doesn’t mean you will be this time. Just because I’ve never been in a crash, does that mean I shouldn’t wear a seat belt?”

“You, like, never wear a seat belt.”

“And there’s one other slight problem with that argument,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Anakin sighed. “No, Ahsoka, you are not doing what you did last time. That’s final.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “How about if we use the lava?”

 _“That_ is a much better idea.”

They stopped and turned to face the ravager.

“I’ll take left, you take right,” Anakin said, taking out his lava bucket.

Ahsoka nodded.

The ravager was getting closer. Anakin could feel its footsteps pounding through the ground, into his feet and up his body. He could only imagine what it was like for Ahsoka, with her advanced hearing.

“On three,” Anakin said. “One.”

The ravager’s green eyes were glaring at them.

Anakin wondered if it was bad that he was close enough to notice that.

“Two.”

The ravager was getting a bit too close for comfort. Well, even more so than it had already been.

“Three!” Anakin yelled, dumping his lava on the ground. Next to him, Ahsoka did the same.

The ravager grunted in surprise and stopped short, but too late.

The lava flowed over the ground and around the ravager’s feet.

The ravager bellowed, struggling to escape, but the lava was too thick. The creature couldn’t do anything but stay there and burn.

Obi-Wan drew his sword and walked as close to the ravager as he dared, what with the lava and all.

“Master, what are you—” Ahsoka asked.

Obi-Wan drew back his sword and struck.

The ravager collapsed into dust.

Obi-Wan sighed and put his sword away.

After a moment, he turned around. “What now?” he asked.

The horn sounded again.

“There’s your answer,” Anakin said, turning towards the sound.

Another ravager came over the hill. But this time, a pillager was riding on the ravager’s back.

“All right, the lava should slow it down. Then we can get the guy on top,” Anakin said.

“Got it,” Ahsoka said, picking up her half of the lava back into her bucket.

Anakin scooped up his lava too. “Same deal,” he said to Ahsoka.

“Yep.” She drew one sword to defend herself from the pillager. “Except this time there’s arrows.”

“Yeah, and that,” Anakin said, drawing his own sword.

The ravager was coming closer.

The pillager fired a shot at Obi-Wan, who ducked it.

“So uncivilized,” he muttered.

“Now, Snips!” Anakin yelled.

They dumped lava at the ravager’s feet. As the other ravager had done, this one flailed around, trying to get free of the lava without success.

While the ravager was immobilized, Rex fired a shot at the pillager on its back.

He missed. The ravager was bucking and flailing so crazily that it was near-impossible to hit the pillager.

Rex nocked another arrow and fired again.

And missed again.

“Sir, he’s moving too fast! I can’t hit him with this!” Rex said, holding up his bow.

Ahsoka gave an exasperated groan and stepped back a bit.

Anakin saw what was coming. “Ahsoka, no—”

Too late.

Ahsoka got a running start and leaped, drawing her second sword in midair.

“What did I just say?” Anakin yelled.

Ignoring him, Ahsoka came down on top of the pillager, killing it instantly. She hit the ravager with both swords, then leaped off just as the ravager turned to dust that was quickly consumed by the lava. Fortunately, she landed clear of the lava, rolling to absorb her momentum.

Anakin ran up to her and helped her to her feet. Then he took her by the shoulders. “Ahsoka! Are you karking insane?”

“Language, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said.

Ahsoka’s shoulder’s hunched slightly. “I had to do _something,”_ she said meekly.

Anakin sighed and pulled her into his arms. “Well, don’t ever do that again,” he said, hugging her close to his chest.

“Uh… okay?” Ahsoka replied uncertainly, her voice muffled by Anakin’s robes. She squirmed a bit in his arms.

“I can’t lose you,” Anakin whispered, not loosening his grip.

“Yeah, you’re stuck with me, Skyguy,” Ahsoka said, patting him awkwardly yet assuringly on the back.

Obi-Wan spoke up. “As touching as this is, we still have a job to do.”

As if on cue, the horn sounded.

Anakin let go of Ahsoka and cleared his throat. “Right.” He started off back towards the village.

“Hey, guess what, Master?” Ahsoka said from behind him.

Anakin turned and raised an eyebrow. “Do I want to know?”

“I have eight now,” she said proudly.

“What? The mobs?” Anakin closed his eyes and sighed. “I cannot believe you’re still thinking about that,” he muttered, turning back to go up the hill.

“And you still have five,” Ahsoka singsonged after him.

“Just come on,” Anakin groaned. He started up the hill.

As he came over the crest of the hill, Anakin came face to face with someone in black robes trimmed with gold.

An evoker.

“Uh, hey there,” Anakin said, waving.

The evoker raised its hands, which began emitting purple particles.

Anakin dived out of the way just as a set of metal jaws shot up from the ground and closed on the place where he had been a half-second earlier.

He tumbled down the hill and landed on his back, staring up at Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

Obi-Wan looked up. Or at least, what was up for him. Not Anakin.

Then he looked back down at Anakin. “I assume you have one of your brilliant plans prepared?”

“Uh, yeah, ‘course,” Anakin said, pushing himself to his feet. “Rex! Can you shoot that guy?”

“Brilliant,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Rex nocked an arrow and let it fly at the evoker.

It hit it in the shoulder.

The evoker glared at Rex and raised its good arm. Its hand began emitting white particles.

Suddenly, Jared appeared over the crest of the hill. His long metal arms smacked into the evoker, sending it flying through the air.

The evoker never hit the ground. It was dust long before then.

“That was… anticlimactic,” Anakin said.

Ahsoka gave a short laugh. “Where’s _he_ been this entire time?”

“Seriously,” Rex muttered.

The image of an emerald with a red ribbon flashed before Anakin’s eyes for a second. Then, just as suddenly as it was there… it wasn’t.

“Did anyone else see that?” Obi-Wan asked.

“The emerald? Yeah,” Anakin said. “It means we’re done. Look.” He held up his arm, showing off the green particles rising from it. “We are heroes of the village.”

“My friends!”

They all turned to see Joseph coming down the hill.

“On behalf of the village, thank you,” he said, stopping before them and bowing. “You have saved us all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy nuggets, this one was exhausting. I've been working on it for, like, the past month! Here's how I did it:  
> 1\. Write a bit  
> 2\. Play some Minecraft to get in the proper mood for the story  
> 3\. Get completely distracted  
> 4\. Write a bit more  
> 5\. Go for a walk  
> 6\. Write some more  
> 7\. Repeat until chapter is finished  
> And here we are. This chapter was long too-it doubled the length of the story!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me how I did! This is my first time writing this much action at once. Also, I may have accidentally left plot holes or something. I don't know. So yeah, please review! Until next time!  
> -Jimmy


	6. Heroes of the Village

“All in a day’s work,” Anakin said.

Joseph chuckled. “For you, perhaps. But… none of us are warriors. There wasn’t a weapon in our village until we crafted them for you. Jared was our only protection, and surely even he would have eventually fallen against those foes.”

Obi-Wan waved his hand. “It was the least we could do.”

“Nonetheless,” Joseph said, turning to go back to the village and beckoning them to follow, “we would like to offer you our thanks.”

“Very well,” Obi-Wan said. He started after Joseph, and the others followed.

In the village, the villagers were already gathering around the fountain again, clamoring excitedly. Joseph walked toward the fountain, clearing a path for Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex.

Once the four were standing next to him at the fountain, Joseph said, “Villagers! These strangers have saved our village and our lives!”

A cheer went up. Joseph held up a hand to calm the villagers.

Once everyone had quieted down, he said, “I believe they have proven themselves worthy of staying here, if they wish!”

The villagers clamored in agreement.

Joseph turned to Obi-Wan. “Well? Would you like to stay in our village?”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard. “Give us a moment, please.” He turned to Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex.

“No,” Ahsoka said before Obi-Wan could say anything.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“They don’t trust me,” she said.

Obi-Wan shrugged. “I suppose that’s fair. Anakin?”

“I agree with Ahsoka,” Anakin said. “If they wouldn’t let us stay before, I feel like they shouldn’t let us stay now. I don’t like it.”

“Rex?” Obi-Wan asked.

Rex looked around uncomfortably. “I don’t know, sir. I have no idea what’s going on. But I’m inclined to agree with General Skywalker and the Commander.”

Obi-Wan gave a short laugh. “Seems that we’re in agreement, then.” He turned back to Joseph. “We won’t be staying. Thank you for offering.”

Joseph nodded and addressed the villagers. “Our friends will not be staying! But…” He looked at Obi-Wan. “Many of them would like to thank you personally, is that all right?” he asked in a low voice.

Obi-Wan winced inwardly. He hated anything remotely resembling publicity, but it would be rude to decline. He nodded.

“Thank you,” Joseph said. He raised his voice again. “But we will pay our respects briefly before they go!”

The villagers started clamoring and scrambling around. Obi-Wan watched with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, I feel very appreciated,” Anakin said.

A villager wearing a straw hat approached them. “I’d like to give you this as a thank-you for saving us,” he said, holding out some bread to Obi-Wan.

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, smiling and bowing.

“The best of my crop,” the villager said, smiling back and touching the brim of his hat before walking away.

Obi-Wan tucked the bread into his bag as another villager walked up. This one wore a protective mask of some sort. At the moment, however, the mask was pushed up, revealing the villager’s bright green eyes.

“I noticed you had no armor—except for you,” the villager said, nodding towards Ahsoka, who still wore the boots and leg armor she had gotten in the raid.

“Uh…” said Rex, who was still in his full armor kit minus the helmet.

“And so I give you these,” the villager went on, not having heard Rex. “May they protect you as you have protected us.” He handed them each a chainmail chestplate before walking off.

“How exactly do we put these on?” Obi-Wan asked, looking at Ahsoka.

“Just tap it on where it goes,” she said, demonstrating with her new chainmail.

“Thank you.” Obi-Wan put on his own armor. It was surprisingly light and comfortable.

“I think I’ll just, uh… hold on to this,” Rex said quietly, slipping the chestplate from the villager into his bag.

Just then, yet another villager came towards them.

Obi-Wan sighed. _Here we go again,_ he thought.

* * *

By the time the villagers returned to their homes, Obi-Wan and the others had received many gifts, including fish, steak, pork, pumpkin pie, shovels, lapis lazuli, wool, and paper.

Anakin sat down and slumped backward into a lying-down position. “Whew, that’s finally over.”

“Yeah.” Ahsoka flopped down next to Anakin.

Obi-Wan chuckled at the sight of the two of them lying side by side on the ground. “It _was_ beginning to be tiring,” he agreed.

Someone cleared their throat.

Obi-Wan looked up to see Joseph standing there with a sheepish smile.

“I’m sure you’ve had enough of visiting,” Joseph said, “but I think these may prove helpful.” He took out a few books.

Obi-Wan stood up and took the books, skimming the covers. They had titles like _Crafting Guide, Efficient Mining Techniques,_ and _Brewing Recipes._

“Ooh,” Anakin said, peeking over his former master’s shoulder. “Yes, these do look helpful.”

“Good.” Joseph pulled out an old-fashioned analog clock. “The day is getting on. Not that we want to hurry you off, but you’ll want to find shelter soon if you’re not staying here.”

Obi-Wan looked up at the sun, just passing noon. “That would be a good idea,” he said. “Thank you for all your help.”

“You are most welcome. And thank you for yours,” Joseph said. “Feel free to visit any time. You’ll always be welcome here.”

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, bowing.

Joseph bowed back before leaving them.

“Well, shall we?” Anakin said, his usual smirk already beginning to show on his face.

“Yes, let’s be going.” Obi-Wan put the books from Joseph in his bag.

Anakin sighed. “Ahsoka, what are you doing?”

Obi-Wan looked up.

Ahsoka was sitting on the ground, playing with a cat, while Rex watched, looking amused.

“I didn’t do anything!” Ahsoka protested. “She just came over to me!” She looked down and addressed the cat, petting her little head. “Don’t worry, he’s nicer once you get to know him.”

Anakin rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in frustration.

Obi-Wan went over to get a closer look at the cat. She was white and gray, with light green eyes. As he knelt down, she meowed at him.

“Hello,” he said, gently scratching her chin. “Now, I wonder… what’s your name?” He looked for a collar, but he didn’t see one.

“I think she’s a stray,” Ahsoka said. “But I named her Lily, and I think she likes it.”

 _“No,”_ Anakin said. “You did _not_ name her.”

Lily meowed.

“See, she likes it,” Ahsoka said.

“Snips, we have to go,” Anakin said. “Leave the cat alone.”

Ahsoka made no move to get up. “Can we keep her?”

“No.”

“Please?”

_“No.”_

“Master, Creepers don’t like cats. Free Creeper protection…” Ahsoka singsonged. Then she looked up at Anakin with big, sad eyes. “Please?”

Judging by the look on his face, Anakin was trying to say _no_ again but couldn’t make himself do it.

Obi-Wan held back a chuckle. He stood up and looked at Anakin. “If Lily will keep… _Creepers_ away, I think that’s a valid reason to keep her.”

Anakin groaned. “Fine.”

“Yay!” Ahsoka said, hugging Lily.

“But _you,”_ Anakin pointed at Ahsoka, “are the one responsible for her.”

“I can be responsible!” Ahsoka said. “See, look.” She took out some fish from her bag and fed it to Lily.

Red hearts appeared over Lily’s head and a collar appeared on her neck. She meowed and nuzzled up against Ahsoka’s hand.

Anakin sighed. “Can we go now?”

“Okay, okay,” Ahsoka said, standing up. “Which way _are_ we going?”

“It’s Minecraft, Snips,” Anakin said. “I don’t think it really matters.”

“I’m glad we have you here to tell us these things,” Obi-Wan said dryly. He looked around. “Well, I don’t think we want to go through the forest. So how about that way?” He pointed in the opposite direction, toward an open plain with a river visible in the distance.

“Looks fine to me,” Anakin said. “Let’s go.”

And with that, they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is starting soon for me, so I'll be updating all my stories less frequently. Or maybe more frequently, as an escape... I don't know.  
> I hope you liked the chapter! If you have feedback or ideas for things you want to happen later, tell me! I always like to hear from readers!  
> -Jimmy


	7. Home Is Where The Beds Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Hello. It's been a while. Since I last updated, I had to delete Minecraft from my computer. It was acting really weird and wouldn't update. But I am basing the world in this story off of the last world that I had, so in that way it shall live on!
> 
> [State Anthem of the Russian Federation]
> 
> [it's a good song, okay?]
> 
> [Also it's snowing where I live]
> 
> Oh, and I'm going to ignore the Nether Update in this story. I never played it, but I think maybe they should've just left the Nether alone.
> 
> Anyway, that's about all. On to the story!

The sun shone brightly over a forest to the left as they walked. To the right were rolling green plains, with pigs and cows and sheep wandering peacefully among the grass and flowers.

Huh. Flowers. Speaking of which…

Ahsoka crouched down next to a flower, a blue one. Next to her, Lily stopped and looked at the flower, then at her.

She touched the flower. It felt just like a real one, but… well, blocky-shaped.

Could she pick it up?

She tugged gently, and with a soft _chuff_ the flower was in her hand, small white letters declaring it a _Cornflower._

"Huh," she said aloud.

Lily looked up at her.

Ahsoka smiled and rubbed Lily's head. "Come on." She stood up and jogged to catch up with the others.

"So, Anakin," Obi-Wan was saying. "What exactly is our current objective?"

"Well, we want to find a good place to build a house before dark," Anakin said.

"Ah." Obi-Wan nodded. "And what defines a good place?"

"Close to caves."

"And a forest," Ahsoka added. "And water. And snow." Really, there was no reason for that last one other than the fact that she liked snow.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes for a moment. "What?" he said quietly, shaking his head.

"Forest for wood, caves for mining," Anakin said. "Oh, I wonder how breaking blocks works."

"I figured out how to pick flowers!" Ahsoka announced. "Here, this is a present for you." She put the flower she had picked on top of Anakin's head.

"Why thank you." He grabbed the flower and tucked it into his robes near the collar. "But… I think it's probably different from mining, Snips."

"I bet it's not!" She looked toward the forest. "Let's go see. We need to get some wood anyway, right?" Without waiting for an answer, she ran toward the forest, Lily close behind.

They stopped in front of a tree and looked it up and down.

It was your average Minecraft tree—an oak tree, Ahsoka was guessing, and about four or five blocks tall.

She gave it an experimental tap with her fist.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, a bit harder.

A small crack appeared in the surface of the trunk.

Encouraged, she hit it again. And again. And again. She could feel the impact of her fists hitting the tree, the rough bark against the back of her fingers, but it didn't hurt.

More cracks appeared, until a section of the trunk broke with a soft _pop_ and landed in miniature form in her hand. Just like with the flower, there were white letters labelling it: _Oak Wood._

Ahsoka turned to Anakin and waved the wood triumphantly in the air. "Got it!"

"Get some more," he called back.

She nodded and started punching at the bottom block of her tree. Anakin arrived nearby and started on a different tree.

"You… _do_ know we have axes, don't you?" Obi-Wan pointed out.

Ahsoka and Anakin turned from their respective trees to stare at him.

"But… you _have_ to punch trees," Ahsoka said.

"Yeah," Anakin agreed. "Punching trees is like… the Minecraft version of the Gathering, almost."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. "No it's not."

"It's iconic," Anakin went on. "It's like a rite of passage. And it's, like, the first thing everyone thinks of when they think of Minecraft."

Obi-Wan looked at them both with a raised eyebrow. "Well, to each their own, I suppose," he said, taking out his axe and going to find a tree.

"Uh…" Rex said. "I guess I'll…" He walked slowly up to a tree and pointed at it. "So do I just…"

"Yeah, just hit it," Ahsoka said.

"Uh, okay." Rex looked uncertainly at the tree, then threw a punch that would've shattered a battle droid into scrap. But the tree didn't seem to care. Just one little crack appeared in the wood.

"Yeah, just like that!" Ahsoka said. "Except you don't need to do it so hard."

She turned back to her tree and finished breaking the bottom block. The miniature wood zoomed into her hand, merging with the other, and she got to work on the upper part of the trunk.

After breaking the block directly above her head, she looked up at the next one. It was too high for her to reach.

Well, in the game you could break stuff that was far away…

She threw her fist in the direction of the block, punching air.

Nothing happened. She kept trying for about thirty seconds before her montrals alerted her to an approaching Anakin.

"Having trouble?" he asked, sounding amused.

She looked down from the tree to glare at him. "Yeah."

He smirked. "You can't break stuff you can't reach."

"Yeah, I figured that out." She looked at the ground, then at the wood in her hand.

She could do a pillar jump, if she could figure out how to place it…

She jumped into the air as high as she could and flicked her hand at the ground, and a section of wooden trunk appeared under her feet with a _thunk._

"Yep," Anakin said.

Ahsoka stomped on the wood a couple times. It seemed sturdy. Looking upward, she quickly broke the top block of the tree. After that was done, she looked at the leaves surrounding her, and reached out to touch them.

They felt just like real leaves, but gathered into floating blocks.

Suddenly one of them broke, and a stick appeared in her hand.

She looked at the stick, then at the wood under her feet, and then used the stick to break the wood.

"How much do you have?" Anakin asked.

Ahsoka looked at the wood in her hand. "Four."

"Okay. Get, like, half a stack."

She took out her axe and ran to another tree. "Race you!" she yelled.

"Hey!" Anakin protested. "I wasn't ready!"

"Seven!" she called, already halfway done with the tree. The axe broke it a lot faster than punching.

Anakin made a frantic noise and ran off to find another tree.

* * *

A few minutes later, the four had finished gathering wood. The trees had also dropped a bunch of apples, sticks, and saplings, which they had picked up as well.

"All right," Anakin said. "Now we just need to go find a good place for a house. Remember, trees, caves, and water."

"Why is it that we need caves and trees?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I told you," Anakin began. "Trees for wood, for crafting stuff. And caves for coal and iron and gold and redstone and lapis and diamonds and emeralds—"

"Basically, we can get stuff from the caves that's really helpful," Ahsoka interrupted.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Well… forest." He gestured at the forest they had been getting wood from. "And there's a river there." He pointed to a river a little ways away. "So how about we follow the river until we find a cave?"

"Sounds good," Ahsoka said.

"No idea what's going on, but…" Rex shrugged. "Makes sense." He frowned. "If… _that_ makes sense."

"Yes, it does," Anakin said, patting Rex's shoulder. "I think it's a good plan too. Now let's go, we want to build a house before dark." He set off toward the river, and the others followed.

"General?" Rex asked as they walked along.

"Yes?" Anakin said.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but… what happens at night?"

"Monsters come out," Anakin said casually. "But don't worry, it'll be fine."

Rex opened his mouth, then closed it. "Hm."

They arrived at the river, on the opposite side of which was more forest. They turned left and followed the river along the edge of the trees.

"Uh, Commander?" Rex asked. "What _kind_ of things come out?"

Ahsoka smiled brightly. "Zombies, creepers, spiders, skeletons, the occasional enderman. Oh. And phantoms, if you don't sleep."

"What're creepers and endermen?"

"Creepers explode. Endermen teleport." At Rex's nervous expression, she added, "It's not as bad as it sounds, trust me."

"If you say so…" Rex said uncertainly.

"Hey, look, mountains!" Anakin said from up ahead.

Ahsoka looked up. He was right. Up ahead, the forest thinned out and there were mountains capped with snow. The river wove toward the mountains, leaving the forest before turning off to the right.

"Yes, Anakin, those are mountains," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, I know that, Obi-Wan. That's why I said it."

"I'm sure we can all tell that they're mountains."

Ahsoka gasped dramatically. "Look, it's a mountain!"

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. "I cannot believe this."

"I think maybe we should build a house near here," Anakin said. "Mountains usually have some pretty good caves, and there's a forest right here, and water."

Ahsoka shrugged. "Let's go look."

As they walked, the trees grew thinner and thinner until they were out of the forest. The forest continued on their left, though, and it looked like it became a dark forest. On their right was the river, and directly ahead were the mountains.

"This looks good, right?" Anakin said.

Ahsoka shrugged. "Yeah, looks good to me."

"It seems reasonable," Obi-Wan agreed, looking around. "Nice scenery, too."

"Uh… yeah, looks like a nice place," Rex said.

"Okay!" Anakin clapped his hands and looked around. "So… right here?"

"How about if we… check around a bit before we begin?" Obi-Wan said dryly.

"Fine," Anakin muttered.

"Hey, look, a giant mushroom." Ahsoka pointed at the tree-sized fungus over to their left, near the edge of the forest.

Rex squinted. "Is that what that is?"

"Yeah." Ahsoka started to run toward the mushroom to get a better look, but Obi-Wan caught her arm.

"Careful, careful," he said, letting her drag him along for a few feet so he didn't hurt her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Master Obi-Wan, I'm _always_ careful."

"Oh. Well then, I do hope you noticed the hole in the ground."

Ahsoka looked. There was indeed a big hole in the ground ahead. If she hadn't been careful (just hypothetically), she could've fallen in.

"Ooh," she said, going over and looking down. The hole was, as she suspected, the entrance to a cave. "Yes, that will be useful." Then she darted off to look at the mushroom.

It was red with white dots, maybe four or five blocks tall. She reached out to touch it, and it felt soft and rubbery like a real mushroom. Everything here felt like the real thing, she realized.

Right near the mushroom was another cave leading straight into the mountain. It looked like there would be some good materials in there. And across from the cave was a little hill, at the base of which the mushroom stood.

She climbed the hill and looked down the other side. There was a fairly large clearing in the trees, with grass and flowers growing in in the sunlight. Through the trees on the opposite side she thought could see another river.

"This looks like a good place, huh?" she said.

Lily meowed in agreement.

"Snips!" came Anakin's voice.

"Come on, let's go surprise him," Ahsoka whispered. She ran and jumped from the hill to the top of the mushroom, and Lily followed. Crouching down, she saw Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Rex coming toward them.

"Snips?" Anakin called again.

Ahsoka leaped to her feet. "I have the high ground!" she cried in her best impersonation of Obi-Wan.

Even from this far, she could see Obi-Wan raise his eyebrow.

"That's not the ground, that's a mushroom so your advantage does not exist!" Anakin yelled. He charged forward and leaped.

Fortunately for Ahsoka and Lily, Anakin didn't have the Force to boost his jump, so he ended up faceplanting against the side of the mushroom. "Ow."

Ahsoka collapsed to her knees in a fit of giggling.

"Snips," Anakin groaned. "Help." His hands were just barely clinging on to the edge of the mushroom, and it wasn't exactly a surface with a lot of purchase.

Lily went over and meowed down at him.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"Skyguy!" Ahsoka flopped down next to Lily and hugged her while making a sad face at Anakin. "That's not nice."

"That _cat_ is not nice!"

"Her name is Lily."

"I don't care!"

Ahsoka frowned and hugged Lily tighter. "That's mean. Apologize to Lily right now or I won't help you."

"I'm not going to apologize for expressing my opinion."

Lily wriggled out of Ahsoka's arms, went forward, and licked Anakin's hand.

"AAAAH!" he screamed, jerking away his hand, which of course resulted in him falling to the ground. It was only one block, but somehow he ended up on his back with his legs in the air.

Rex looked down at him with visible confusion, while Obi-Wan just closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Ahsoka jumped lightly to the ground in front of Anakin. She, too, almost stumbled, but it was because she was trying not to laugh. "I told you, Master, I had the high ground," she said, smirking down at him.

"Whatever," Anakin muttered, rubbing his face. "So are we gonna build a house?"

"Yeah, I found a good spot over there." She pointed over the hill.

"Well then, let's see," Anakin said, rolling smoothly onto his feet and following her up the hill.

She gestured grandly to the clearing. "Looks pretty good, right?"

Anakin stroked his chin. "Hmm. Yes. But there's a lot of…" He flung his arm vaguely around at the grass and flowers. "…stuff."

"Ah, we can just dump water on those. Or dig the dirt out." Ahsoka turned to Obi-Wan and Rex. "What do you guys think?"

"It looks as good a place as any," Obi-Wan said.

"Uh…" Rex shrugged. "Yeah, sure, if you think so, kid."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He held up his hands in defense. "Exactly what I said! If you think it's good, then okay!" he said quickly, his voice a little higher-pitched than normal.

"Okay then." She looked at Anakin. "So…?"

"Sure, let's do it here."

"All right." She took out some of the wood she had gathered earlier.

"Wait, wait, wait." Anakin held out his hand to stop her. "See how this is a dark forest?"

She looked at the trees, then at him. "Um… yeah, I noticed."

"We should have a house made out of dark oak wood."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess that would look better. We can use this for crafting and stuff." She held up the normal oak wood in her hand.

"Yeah. And we'll want cobblestone…"

"Yeah, and some windows, I think there was sand by the river."

"Yeah… you can go do that." Anakin looked around. "I'll get the wood, and Obi-Wan and Rex, can you go get us some stone? It should be easy to find up there." He pointed up at the mountain.

Obi-Wan laughed dryly. "Of course, _finding_ it is the easy part. Once we're up there."

"Ah, it's not that bad," Anakin muttered. "Ahsoka, get probably at least like twenty sand."

She nodded and took out her shovel. "Come on, Lily. Let's go find us some…" She paused for dramatic effect. _"…sand."_

The cat meowed and scampered back toward the river.

When Ahsoka caught up with her, she was standing on top of a patch of sand at the bank of the river, looking very proud of herself.

"Yeah, good job!" Ahsoka smiled, crouching down to pat Lily's head. "But you're gonna have to move."

Lily moved.

"Okay. Now…" Ahsoka studied the sand. She wanted to leave the riverbank looking nice, but she still had to take some.

She shoveled a few blocks from the edge of the bank, then stepped back to look. It looked okay, so she continued to remove sand blocks a few at a time, moving along the river.

When she had taken as much as she could while still leaving the river looking somewhat nice, she opened her bag to check how much sand she'd collected. She expected to have to dig around, but the stack of sand immediately popped out of the bag and into her hand.

"Huh." She frowned at the stack, which had a little _16_ on it. Then she looked up, across the river.

It wasn't too wide, and there was plenty of sand on the other side.

She stowed her shovel and the stack of sand. "You stay here, okay?"

Lily sat down and looked up at her expectantly.

She smiled. "I'll be right back." She glanced down at the armor she had gotten at the village—a chainmail chestplate and solid iron from the waist down. It was really light, so she… _should_ be able to swim in it, right?

"Well, let's see," she muttered, slowly edging one foot into the water.

The water was cool. When she stepped all the way in, it came up to a little below her waist. She moved her legs around a bit, feeling the water swish around them.

She could move pretty well, and the armor was light, so what was the worst that could happen? She could just take it off if anything went wrong.

She stepped forward and slipped deeper into the river.

The water came up to her stomach, then her chest, then her neck. Her chin dipped below the water for a split second, and then she started treading and there she was, swimming just fine and barely even noticing the weight of her armor.

She let out a breath that almost turned into a happy laugh. Smiling, she took a deep breath and ducked under the water.

The water was amazingly clear, and she could see everything perfectly. Fish swam peacefully about, and sea grass waved gently in the water.

And there was a drowned staring at her.

A surprised noise escaped her, coming out as bubbles. Quickly, she kicked up to the surface of the river and swam to the bank, then scrambled out of the water.

The drowned stared up at her from the depths of the river, but it didn't follow.

"Okay…" Ahsoka said slowly. "I'm just gonna…" She took out her shovel and collected one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight more blocks of sand.

When that was done, she turned and looked down at the drowned, who was still staring. "Just go away, will you?"

The drowned gurgled.

She raised her shovel. "Last chance."

The drowned stared.

She shrugged. "Okay." She spun and brought the shovel down on its head in a move borrowed from Anakin. Obviously it was meant to be performed with a lightsaber, but…

With a gurgle, the drowned turned to dust that floated up through the water, into the air and away into nothing.

Ahsoka blinked. That was… effective.

Across the river, Lily meowed.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Ahsoka called. After a quick check for more drowned, she swam back across the river.

Lily stood up, looking her up and down as she climbed out of the water.

Ahsoka chuckled. "Come on, let's go see how everyone else is doing."

* * *

As they approached the clearing, Anakin and Obi-Wan's raised voices reached Ahsoka's montrals.

Well, Anakin's voice was raised. Obi-Wan's was… Obi-Wan's.

"Anakin, this _is_ stone."

"No, this is not what we're looking for! This is andesite!"

"Which is a type of stone."

"No, it's like useless! We just want normal stone."

" _Normal_ stone?" Obi-Wan chuckled. "Do tell, what type of stone do you define as _normal_ stone?"

Anakin groaned, slumping down onto the crafting table next to him. "Snips, please, go…" he waved his hand, "…go help them."

She looked at him, then at Obi-Wan, then at Rex, who looked like he just wanted to be somewhere else.

"Anakin says this isn't the stone we want," Obi-Wan said, holding out a gray block.

Ahsoka inspected it, and sure enough, it was not cobblestone, but andesite. "Yeah, it's not. Come on." She went off toward the mountain, looking for a good place to demonstrate. There were deposits of all four types of stone pretty close together on the side of the mountain, and she headed that way, taking out her pickaxe.

"Okay," she said as Obi-Wan and Rex came up beside her. "This is andesite, what you got." She pointed to the light gray blocks. "This is diorite, and this is granite." She pointed to the whitish and pinkish-brown stone variants. "And _this…_ is stone." She tapped her finger against a block with the familiar plain gray texture. "It's by far the most useful. And if you mine it…" She lifted her pickaxe, broke the block, and held up the resulting item. "You get cobblestone. Which is what we want."

Obi-Wan and Rex nodded slowly and in unison. It was kind of funny to watch.

"We'll probably want a good amount for the house," Ahsoka went on, "so I'll help you collect it."

With the three of them, it only took a few minutes to collect a good amount of cobblestone. Anakin didn't come to help until they were already on their way back.

"Oh. Uh… you're done?" he said awkwardly.

"Yes. I do hope you've been productive," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin grinned. "Yep." He pointed to the clearing, where there was a rectangular outline dug into the ground. "I think that should be big enough, right?"

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you dig out the middle?"

"Well, in case anybody wanted to change anything, I didn't want to have to put a bunch of dirt back."

"Hm…" She put a finger to her chin. "Our rooms are all gonna be upstairs, right?"

Anakin shrugged. "Eventually. Right now we're just, you know, kinda throwing something up for the night."

"Okay. Looks good to me."

"Well then," Obi-Wan said. "Let's get building."

* * *

They filled in the trench Anakin made with cobblestone. Ahsoka crafted a furnace and got the sand started while the others added another layer of cobblestone, forming the bases of the walls.

Rex got to work shoveling out the dirt floor and replacing it with wood while the Jedi began building upwards. At each corner of the house, they built up with cobblestone for four blocks, then built sideways to connect the uppermost blocks to each other, creating a frame of sorts.

"Okay. That should give us four blocks, right? From the floor to the ceiling?" Anakin looked at the top of the frame, then at the floor. "Yeah. I think that's good."

He built a cobblestone frame for the doorway and placed two doors, then helped Obi-Wan fill in the walls with wood. A good amount of sand had been smelted by now, and Ahsoka crafted glass panes and placed them into the gaps Anakin and Obi-Wan left for the windows.

Rex finished with the floor and started on the roof. When the others were finished with their respective tasks, they joined him.

Only a few minutes later, the house was… not complete, but good for the night. It was enclosed, and there was a roof over their heads.

"Just in time," Ahsoka said, looking out through one of the front windows at the setting sun.

"Oh, you know what we need, is some torches," Anakin said. "I'll be right back." He opened one of the front doors (actually the only set of doors in the house).

"Hey, wait!" Ahsoka called after him. "You shouldn't go by yourself."

He smirked. "Ah, I'm a veteran, Snips. I'll be fine." And before she could say anything else, he slipped outside and shut the door.

Rex patted her shoulder. "I'll go with him, kid. Don't worry." He followed Anakin outside.

That was better. At least Rex would probably have a better idea of when to stop fighting and just run.

Ahsoka went over to the crafting table, took out some wood and crafted a chest. Lily rubbed up against her legs, probably feeling neglected since they had all been busy building.

Ahsoka placed the chest against the wall. She removed her armor and dropped it in the chest, then placed her bed (which the villagers had let them keep) next to it.

Sitting down, she took out her leftover pork from breakfast. There were two pieces, so she separated them and held one out to Obi-Wan.

He accepted it with a smile and came to sit next to her. "Thank you."

Lily jumped up into Ahsoka's lap and curled up, seemingly not interested in food. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan ate in silence, the only sound Lily's soft purring.

It was getting dark outside, which meant it was also getting dark inside, since they didn't have any light sources. Ahsoka knew no monsters could spawn in the house, not while she and Obi-Wan were there, but it was still a bit unnerving.

The door made its distinctive Minecraft door-opening noise, and she forced down a flinch.

"Making yourselves comfortable, I see," Anakin said, the torch in his hand casting warm orange-yellow light throughout the room.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Is that really such a good idea, Anakin?"

"What?" Anakin shrugged. "I couldn't set the house on fire if I tried. See, watch—"

"ANA—"

"Look, it's not burning! See?"

"Yes, I _see_ that, Anakin, now please _stop."_

Chuckling, Anakin stuck the torch to the wall. "I told you so."

Rex and Anakin went around the house, placing torches. It made the house feel more… comfortable, even if it didn't make it any warmer.

"We can put more outside later," Anakin said. "But we should set our…" he placed his bed, "…spawn points first. Which means sleeping." He stared at Obi-Wan.

Suppressing a giggle, Ahsoka stared at Obi-Wan too.

Obi-Wan looked back and forth between the two of them. "What?"

"Did you hear that? _Sleep,"_ Ahsoka said.

He frowned. "Yes, I heard you."

"Good. Because we _all_ need to sleep," Anakin said, pointing a finger at him. "It's very important."

Obi-Wan reached into his inventory. "Well, I was just…"

"NO," Anakin and Ahsoka said in unison, both reaching to stop him.

Obi-Wan sighed. "We really should read the books Joseph gave us."

"We can do that… _tomorrow,"_ Anakin said as if he were speaking to a youngling. He reached into Obi-Wan's inventory, took out Obi-Wan's bed, and placed it between his and Ahsoka's (leaving a couple of blocks between each, thankfully). "Here. Right next to Snips and me."

"Oh, very well," Obi-Wan sighed, getting up and moving to his bed.

"There." Anakin smiled and flopped down on his own bed. "Everyone has food, right?"

"We already ate," Ahsoka said.

"Yes, sir, I've got some." Rex placed his bed next to Anakin's and sat down.

"Okay, great."

For a little while, the only sound was chewing.

Actually, it was only about ten seconds, since Minecraft food was small.

Anakin swallowed. "Wow. Very filling." He took off his chainmail, dropped it in his inventory bag-satchel thing, and took that off. Then he brought his foot up to pull at his boots.

"You know, Anakin, you shouldn't lie down just after eating," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin shrugged. "Eh, I do it all the time."

"I rest my case."

"I rest." Anakin slipped under his blankets and closed his eyes.

Carefully, Ahsoka moved Lily from her lap and took off her boots. "I think we'll be okay, Master Obi-Wan."

"Well…" He sighed. "Lie down on your left side, at least."

Ahsoka laid down, still looking at him. "You should get some sleep too," she said quietly, curling around Lily and pulling the blankets up to keep her warm.

Obi-Wan smiled. "I will, little one, don't worry. You go to sleep now."

She yawned. "Not until you do."

She was pretty sure he at least started taking off his boots, but before he even got them both off, she was asleep.


End file.
